Keep adding complications to characters’ arcs

When I started writing my novel, I didn't know the ins and outs. I still don't, but I'm learning. Instead of keeping that knowledge to myself, I've elected to share the discoveries.

This novel will be a suspense/thriller. When I started writing the book, the setting was simple, but true to this tip complications began mounting. At first I wasn't thinking along the lines of adding complications but now I've come to the realization that complications are a necessity for all books, I thought I'd pass the knowledge on to you.

Complications raise the stakes for the protagonist. Throughout the course of writing the novel, those stakes continue to be escalated. From my research, raising stakes are important to created and maintain tension in a novel.

I have found out that escalating tension is one of four important factors of writing effective suspense. I'm not sure what the other factors are, more research is needed. If anybody has ideas, please let me know or leave a comment.