# 18.12: The Long Shadow of Unanswered Questions

An episode of [Writing Excuses](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/990871441), 19 Mar 2023, 21 min.

Audio: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/audio3.redcircle.com/episodes/73307c65-7849-4d0c-8ed6-ac6c5b0dd73d/stream.mp3

Our continuing exploration of tension has taken us to a favorite technique: unanswered questions. Sure, this obviously applies to mysteries, but consider the question posed in romances: “will they get together?” In its simplest form, the unanswered question that forces a page-turn is "what happens on the next page?" In this episode we explore how to use unanswered questions to drive tension, and how to avoid some common pitfalls. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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