This is a word that I didn't think about much, until recently. I knew I didn't like the anticipation of things. I am someone who dosn't do well with it in real life. If I have to get a cavity filled it had better be tomorrow not in two weeks, or else I will freak out about it for the whole two weeks. But what I am realizing is that Anticipation plays a huge role in writing.
Why do we love to read? Could one reasion be, its the anticipation that we feel for the ending that we seek? In romance we all know he is going to end up with her, but its the how, that keeps us turning the pages. In action or adventure we know the hero is going to win, but how? We anticipate, we count on these things to happen, which is why we turn the pages.
When we write we need to try and make sure we are building the anticipation up. It builds more emotion, the reader invests more of themselves into the story. They become more attached to the characters the words, everything when we build the anticipation.
Alfred Hitchcock said: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
So true. The sound of a gun shot makes us jump but then its over. But the time it takes to read about the bad guy coming into the house, pulling out his gun, and tracking the hero into a cornner that we are not sure he can get out of, and then he pulles the trigger. Wow, that builds the emotion. We care about what happens next, we squirm as the bad guy comes up the stairs. We want to shout to the hero, "No don't go there, how will you get out!"
This works in any genra, but it was easy to use suspense here. Think about how you can use anticipation in your own writing, in your own way. Your readers will thank you! :D
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