I am writing a manuscript for a novel. It's my first attempt, and often I find myself wanting to write "suddenly" or "all of a sudden". I do this when I want the scene to change in an instant, or the reader to be surprised.

What is a good way to make this happen, while avoiding the "suddenly"/"all of a sudden" clichés? Are there words or phrases that can replace them? Am I simply building a scene wrong? If so, what is an effective technique for creating surprise without running into this problem?