The Art of Thrillers: Behind the Shadows

5. Tick-and-Clock

Tick-and-clock means that you will create a deadline or multiple deadlines in order to ramp up the tension in your story.

For instance, you might have a scenario like:

If you don't deliver the money to the drop-off point by midnight, your daughter will lose another one of her fingers.If we don't kill all the vampires by sundown, they'll overtake the town.A guy picks up a haunted gun, and he cannot put it down until he kills six people with it. If he doesn't kill one person each day, the gun overtakes his mind and starts shooting people without his consent, so he's working against that clock so that he has a choice as to who dies.

Books or novels with this type of component, the ticking clock, have fast-paced scenarios.

Here are some highly acclaimed films where this narrative device is effectively used to build suspense:

1. In the Commando (1985), you may have noticed that John Matrix's enemy is time because he has a limited amount of time to rescue his daughter from kidnappers before they realize he's turned into a one-man army. But even though time is an enemy here, the protagonist is at the height of his powers; therefore, it doesn't seem to hinder him too much.

John Matrix slashes through hundreds of evil henchmen without even trying, like a chainsaw through room-temperature butter. It's an instance of a ticking clock plot that doesn't actually add much suspense, but if you like over-the-top action flicks with one muscled-up killing machine mowing down the bad guys, then the absence of tension won't bother you.

2. In 1917, two young soldiers are dispatched on a mission during World War One that, if unsuccessful, could result in innumerable losses. They have less than a day to traverse No Man's Land and send a message that will stop the infantry on their side from making a foolish charge.

As a result, with the urgency of the task being increased by the feeling of being practically in real-time and the appearance of being captured in a single shot. It does a superb job of conveying to viewers the tremendous burden that would have been placed on the main characters' shoulders.

Each of these movies uses the ticking clock mechanism to up the suspense and keep a tight narrative arc, cementing their place in cinematic history.

Here are a few highly regarded books that use this technique to build suspense:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: While not a thriller, this seminal work uses the ticking clock device in the trial of Tom Robinson. As the trial date approaches, tension mounts in the small town of Maycomb, and the truth must be revealed before it's too late.

2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: The French Revolution serves as the backdrop for this Dickens classic, creating an environment of fear and uncertainty. As protagonist Charles Darnay is captured and faces the guillotine, the characters race against time to save him, utilizing the ticking clock to amplify the story's inherent tension.

Each of these novels, in its own unique way, utilizes the ticking clock device to ratchet up suspense and keep readers engaged, demonstrating the narrative power of this technique.