How to Create Tension... or Destroy It

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says that tension is "a balance maintained in an artistic work between opposing forces or elements." Greater opposing forces means greater tension. So if you want tension to be high, then whatever it is your character has to oppose, make it the biggest, baddest thing possible.

Where do you need tension in the story? It should be present in your first line to create a strong hook for the reader. Tension is what will keep your reader turning pages through that muddle in the middle. When you reach the end of the story, build tension to its highest peak and then let it off at the climax for a totally satisfying ending. Basically, you need tension throughout a story, but rather than making a steady climb from the opening line to the climax, tension should rise and fall to create a thrilling emotional ride. 

At our meeting we brainstormed some ways to make tension rise in a story:

• Make something bad happen. This makes the reader feel like something else bad is going to happen.
• Put a time-bomb in the story. Give the characters a deadline. Be home by midnight or you're a pumpkin.
• Place obstacles between your characters and their desires. The bigger the obstacle and the greater the desire, the more tension this will create. This obstacle can come from the outside, but sometimes it is even better for the obstacle to come from the inside. Does your character have conflicting desires that combine to undermine?
• A near miss can raise tension, such as a bullet flying past a character's ear, or a swerve-and-swipe rather than a head-on collision. But don't overdo this one or the reader will start to think you haven't got the guts to make something really bad happen.
• Lean, fast-paced prose won't raise tension by itself, but it will allow it to steam ahead unhindered.
• Change the game. This falls under the category of "obstacles," but it involves such a big obstacle that the characters' plans to resolve the conflict are completely overturned.

On the other hand, here are some things we thought of that will deflate tension:

• Losing your audience's willing suspension of disbelief.
• Unsympathetic characters. If the reader doesn't care, the reader feels no tension.
• Resolutions of problems that come too easy.
• Pointless rambling on the part of the author.
• Any emotional release by the characters, such as laughing or crying.
• Characters that are too indecisive. A character can wonder what to do, but flip-flopping is tedious and irritating to the reader.
• Lack of story progress.

Remember, tension is the engine that drives story. If you haven't got it, your story goes nowhere.

Keep writing!

Author Skype with Beth Revis

Earlier this month we were honored with a skype visit from Beth Revis, author of the Across the Universe series. She happened to be at a convention in New York at the time, but was kind enough to give us a good Q&A session. Here's what we learned:

Q: How do you create tension?
A: Always make the worst possible thing happen.

Q: How do you write a good first kiss?
A: Be aware that not all kisses are perfect. A first kiss should have some awkwardness in it.

Q: How do you start a book?
A: Just start writing. Then cut the first fifty pages. You want to make sure you start on the day that everything changes.

Q: How do you invent new technology for science fiction?
A: Take a look at your story and think about what kind of technology you want to have. Then do your research and find out why we don't have that yet. For example, in Across the Universe, people needed to be frozen for space travel. When I looked it up, I found out that we can't freeze people yet because their cell walls would break. So I invented the "blue goo" to solve that problem.

Q: How do you kill your first character?
A: I've killed so many characters in books it just comes naturally now.

Q: Do you have any advice on writing endings?
A: Endings take a lot of re-writing. Bring something from the beginning and make it part of the end. Come full circle.

Q: How do you get ideas for stories?
A: The ideas are the easy part. Once you get an idea, then you have to figure out what happens next, especially what's the worst possible thing that could happen next.

Q: How do you come up with titles?
A: Make a list of about fifty, and then pick the best one. Have other people help you decide.

Q: What's the hardest part about being a full-time author?
A: Discipline! I have to make my own schedule for turning out a book every year, so that usually ends up with me not writing at all for a few months, then as the deadline approaches, I panic and stay up all night writing.

Q: How do you write a romantic scene without making it too cheesy?
A: Bring in the emotional reactions. There should be some doubt or mistrust. Make it emotionally complex.

Q: How do you do foreshadowing?
A: This is one of the most fun things about writing. I don't outline, but as I write I make sure I include lots of details. As the story goes on, I find ways to make those details relevant later.

Thanks for the visit, Beth!

Foreshadowing

When asked what the meaning of "foreshadowing" was, one of our club members suggested this, "In a movie when there's a murderer coming around the corner with a knife, and you see his shadow on the wall before you see him? That's foreshadowing."

The word "foreshadowing" actually predates the invention of motion pictures by several hundred years, so no, that's not exactly where the term came from. But it is a good way to think of it. Foreshadowing is hinting at what is to come. I like to think of it as "preparing the reader." You know how a shot hurts worse if you watch the needle going in? Why is that? Well, you know what's coming, so you tense up. You start to suffer before you feel the pain. And then when the prick comes... OW! On the other hand, if there's a birthday party, or a movie you really want to see, or a book you're just dying to read, if you know it's coming you can enjoy many moments of happy anticipation leading up to the actual event. Thinking about what's ahead can amplify the experience, whether it's a good experience or a bad one. And for a writer, that's always good.

There's a drawback to foreshadowing. Readers like to be surprised now and then. If the outcome is made too obvious, too predictable, the reader will be disappointed. You can deal with this problem by hiding your foreshadowing among a plethora of random details, so that the reader doesn't know what details are clues and what details are not. If you're really sneaky, and clever, you can foreshadow in such a way that the reader thinks one thing is going to happen, then pull a switch at the end and make something ELSE happen. Something else that still makes sense with all the clues you dropped along the way. And make sure it's even more spectacular than what your reader thought would happen.

Tune in next week for a lesson on tension and suspense...