Sometimes the best plotting in the world and wonderfully written characters aren’t enough to save a story so boring even readers who can’t not finish a novel consider putting it down.

That’s what can happen when your book lacks suspense, and if you’re afraid of this happening to you, here are some ideas that might help.

4 Ideas For Adding Suspense To Your Story

1) Add A Ticking Clock

Imagine a character who has to be at the airport on Tuesday at noon to catch a flight he can’t miss, and he gets there the right time, the right day, and boards the plane. Not exactly thrilling, is it?

Now imagine that same character waking up late, or being involved in a car accident on the way to the airport. Perhaps the train they need to take is late, and the bus, throwing their whole schedule off course and delivering a…