Mystery v. Suspense? I am having a dilemma in writing a story, not sure whether to revise it to incorporate more mystery but at the cost of suspense (of course the ultimate would be to have both, but I am not sure that is possible, at least I can not figure it out). This would seem like a good topic of discussion.
Anyhow, the antagonist is released from a mental hospital, and not too much later ends up taking a nanny position for a family, ultimately turning into a pyscho and posing the threat at the later climax plot point. The question is: should the antagonist be shown early on being released from the mental hospital, or should the unstable mental nature of the antagonist be kept hidden from the viewer until later in the story?
In the first case (showing the antag being released from the mental hospital [wasn't that sort of trick done in Halloween?] the antagonist becomes a sort of Hitchcockian ticking bomb--and from what I have read it adds more suspense if the viewer sees the bomb well in advance; but then there is less mystery as to the antagonist's identify. So, first case = more suspense but less mystery.
In the second case, I could NOT show the antagonist being released from the mental hospital, keep her unstable mental condition hidden from the viewer until later in the story, gradually revealing clues about that; but then the antagonist is less of a threat during the story, sort of like NOT knowing there is a ticking bomb. So, second case = less suspense but more mystery.
Anyhow, the antagonist is released from a mental hospital, and not too much later ends up taking a nanny position for a family, ultimately turning into a pyscho and posing the threat at the later climax plot point. The question is: should the antagonist be shown early on being released from the mental hospital, or should the unstable mental nature of the antagonist be kept hidden from the viewer until later in the story?
In the first case (showing the antag being released from the mental hospital [wasn't that sort of trick done in Halloween?] the antagonist becomes a sort of Hitchcockian ticking bomb--and from what I have read it adds more suspense if the viewer sees the bomb well in advance; but then there is less mystery as to the antagonist's identify. So, first case = more suspense but less mystery.
In the second case, I could NOT show the antagonist being released from the mental hospital, keep her unstable mental condition hidden from the viewer until later in the story, gradually revealing clues about that; but then the antagonist is less of a threat during the story, sort of like NOT knowing there is a ticking bomb. So, second case = less suspense but more mystery.