Year 6 have been learning how to add suspense and intrigue to their creative writing through a variety of techniques. They began by looking at different front covers, discussing which ones looked more haunting and why.

Next, the children explored how to focus on their senses to write dramatic build-ups: what can the character taste, touch, smell, hear and see? ‘Turning off the lights’ is another great technique to add suspense; darkness means that the character has to rely on their other senses, which builds tension. By gradually adding to the atmosphere, the children created friction within the fiction, making the setting scary and the action scenes exciting.

We thought about background noises, flickering lights and shadows, tricky terrain and ferocious, howling weather. Finally, varying the pace of writing adds to the action and suspense; referring to the passing of time, the desperation to get something done quickly, using short sentences and single-word paragraphs. Once Year 6 had completed their stories, they designed their own front covers with chilling results! Do we have a world-famous crime writer in our midst?