The Loop Technique: Keep readers addicted to your writing

The subtle narrative tricks that creates tension without needing plot twists or explosion.

Readers don’t keep turning pages because they want answers. They turn because you’ve made it unbearable to stop.

A thread that tugs at them. Not necessarily plot, not necessarily action, just a hint of something they don’t yet understand. A character flinches at a name. A door opens, but we don’t get to see what’s inside. A smile lingers a second too long.

These are narrative loops. Small, deliberate gaps in information that the reader fills with tension. You can close them quickly or stretch them across chapters. The trick is to plant them on purpose, and not resolve everything at once.

There are three kinds we’re going to look at today: micro-mysteries, emotional setups, and reversals. I first learned about these during my MA, and they’ve been the basis for a lot of my long form writing ever since.

You don’t need all three in every scene. But once you know how to use them, you’ll start thinking about them a lot while you’re reading and writing.

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Micro-Mysteries: Characters with secrets

A micro-mystery is a question the reader can’t help but ask, without even knowing they’re doing it. It doesn’t need a corpse or a locked room. It’s usually small. Odd. Slightly off.

“You always say that when you’re lying,” she says, then turns away.

Now we’re wondering: What was the lie? What happened last time? Is she right?

And you just don’t answer. You move on.

A character gets a text and deletes it without reading. Someone throws out an old photo, then pulls it back from the bin. A man takes the long way to get home and doesn’t say why.

These are narrative irritants. Like getting a speck of dust in your eye. They are not questions that demand immediate answers, but they do hold attention.