On Dicks (2018), chapter 9
How to keep your stories engaging
The author offers 5 examples that help him keep audiences interested:
Elephants
Start the story by presenting something to wonder about. Then keep changing the perspective around this fact. The author says that we should only change the color of the elephant, not change the entire animal. He uses "laugh laugh laugh cry" to refer to perspective changing throughout the story.
Backpacks
It's the classical "setup -> payoff" proposition. The author comments that this works better when the outcome of the setup is negative.
Breadcrumbs
Leave hints about the future, but don't fully disclose them. Leave the audience wondering until the right moment. This resembles The mystery box (Abrams, 2008)
Hourglasses
At the tensest moment, slow down your timing. Savor the moment, that's what your audience has been waiting for, so you (and they) will enjoy it more the longer it lasts. The author shares some tactics like spacing words, lowering the volume, engrossing descriptions, etc.
Crystal balls
This is when you make a wrong negative visualization, so you keep your audience on their toes. It's similar to the idea of when someone says "we need to talk". It's possible that you've projected the worst (when usually it's nothing bad and/or special).
Also look at But & Therefore for building narratives