the concept of tension...

Harlequin said:

The "yes but" or "no, and" (that JB mentions above) is kind of what I mean about tension being wrong or right. Either could work in a given scene, but one is probably better than the other for whatever reason.

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I like what Jo says about tension being anticipation. So whatever you choose the reader will have some sense of anticipation. But it sounds like you have multiple options, but lack confidence about which one will move the story ahead in the best way. I'm actually facing something like that right now. I had been humming along, and I've just had a character come along to help my adversary who is in distress. But, I don't know yet whether that character is male or female, human or magical. I've written what I could (about 2 paragraphs) about the rescue without identifying the rescuer by the above traits (knowing that I'll revise it once I figure out the nature of the helper). There's so many ways it could go, and I've found that if I rush, if I try to push a decision, it's very counterproductive for me. So I set aside and work on something else, but I may spend some time writing to myself about the possibilities inherent in each option - or just thinking about it and waiting till the story becomes clear enough for me to pursue without stressing too much about it.)

Harlequin said:

...is quite elusive to me. If I successfully have it in a scene, it's usually an accident. If it's lacking, I have no idea how to fix beyond rewriting until it somehow appears.

what's it mean to you? how do you ensure you build it in, on a scene by scene basis and across an entire arc?

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I think that if you feel the tension while you write it will come out on the page.

Tension is good but not at the expense of character development. If your book is so tension-filled, from its start to end, you might not give the reader the chance to catch his breath and know your character. They are so many subtleties in the character's life you wouldn't want your reader to miss, and even if they don't evoke your desired tension, they are absolutely necessary. Don't just let your character to be idle at a scene, and that is enough to engage your reader. Don't infuse too much monologue to eclipse activity.
Good luck.

JCornelius said:

Oh, this is the most actually useful book a writer of adventure fiction can read to this day, I very much second this recommendation!

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Dwight Swain is the best book I've found on writing fiction, ever . . . if you could have only one book, that's the one to go for. Some writers have commented that it is a hard book to get into, but I don't see that. I love it! When I hit a slow streak in my writing, I grab it and read a few paragraphs, and I'm fried up again.

Enoise said:

Tension is good but not at the expense of character development. If your book is so tension-filled, from its start to end, you might not give the reader the chance to catch his breath and know your character. They are so many subtleties in the character's life you wouldn't want your reader to miss, and even if they don't evoke your desired tension, they are absolutely necessary. Don't just let your character to be idle at a scene, and that is enough to engage your reader. Don't infuse too much monologue to eclipse activity.
Good luck.

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I agree - if the reader does not relate to the MC (or emotionally invested in them), then they won't care when the MC is in peril.

I have this book called Beyond Style: Mastering the Finer Points of Writing by Gary Provost. It deals with such topics as pacing, tone, metaphor, subtlety, and yes, tension. I found this book to be particularly useful when I was starting out, because it addressed issues that no one else talked about in any depth, if at all.

In the chapter on tension (which he defines as a state of "uneasy suspense"), Provost says:

Tension can come from what's happening in a story, from the words and sentences you use to tell the story, and even from the fact that you're telling the story. "Why is he telling me this?" is a reader question which creates tension.

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He goes on to say "You can add tension to your story at every level, beginning with individual words." He speaks of using words that are inherently more tense than other words: words of delay (such as "paused" or "froze"); words that imply fear; words of danger; words of urgency, and so forth. He also suggests arranging sentences to make them more tense. Word order does make difference. Reveal information in a way that raises questions rather than immediately answering them.

On a higher level, don't be afraid to milk the tension. Don't resolve it too soon. And don't forget dialogue. Dialogue that's oblique and/or contains unanswered questions and/or is evasive and/or has sub-text is tense dialogue. And the story should be full of it.

Think of tension as a cord that runs through every word, sentence, paragraph, and scene in the story. You don't want to let it grow slack; in fact, you want the sense that it's gradually getting tighter and more insistent. And it's very much affected by everything from word choice to the order of unfolding story events. Provost calls this "surface tension." I believe agent Donald Maass calls it "line-by-line tension." Most manuscripts he sees, he has said, don't contain nearly enough of it. You can have all sorts of dangerous happenings and the stakes can be higher than the moon, but if the way the tale is told lacks tension, the story is going to be dead in the water.

Laer Carroll said:

But that's only one kind of tension, and only generates certain kinds of stories.

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Micro-tension (surface tension) permeates all good fiction, not just thrillers and the like. It can be overt to very subtle. And all good fiction also presents a constant stream of questions, from the small and immediate, to the large and sweeping.

Laer Carroll said:

Brilliant! Now we have "micro-tension" as well as "tension" to discuss!

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It's all on a spectrum. Good books have the full range.

I find it hard to grasp. Like I have difficulty understanding where it brews and how it affects others, or motivates characters. Someone could explain it over and over again, and unless i see it, i don't get it. It's the same with personality traits. I could look up the definition, but i won't understand how it applies to someone.

I'm working on a scene right now. Slowly. Trying to feel my way through, and sync with the character's emotion. It's working so far. I find writing it helps. I can feel some of the tension. It makes me feel tense.

BethS said:

[Tension is] all on a spectrum. Good books have the full range.

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I like your idea of levels. At the lowest level we have words. Some express more tension than others. Next level up is phrases and sentences. So can a paragraph, a series of paragraphs, an entire scene. For that matter an entire book can, making us wanting a sequel or a companion book.

That's tension on a vertical scale. I also think of tension as horizontal. There are more kinds than just fear-based tension, though that's a popular one, the entire basis of one kind of stories: thrillers. Other kinds of emotion can also show tension. Curiosity, for instance, when we want to know What happens next? And Why is she like that? And How does that work?

Some kinds work even when we re-read a book. There's no longer any curiosity about what happens next; we already know. But we can still have tension, including the tension of anticipating "the good parts"

Laer Carroll said:

Some kinds work even when we re-read a book. There's no longer any curiosity about what happens next; we already know.

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Unless you're like me and have already forgotten.

Laer Carroll said:

...the tension of anticipating "the good parts"

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or the tension of discovering new layers/aspects that we missed before.

The idea of micro-tension made me think of the concept of beats in a scene (it's from writing plays, as far as I know). It may be known to you, but if not, it may help to check it out

Harlequin said:

...is quite elusive to me. If I successfully have it in a scene, it's usually an accident. If it's lacking, I have no idea how to fix beyond rewriting until it somehow appears.

what's it mean to you? how do you ensure you build it in, on a scene by scene basis and across an entire arc?

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Ticking Clock is one way: https://youtu.be/QRmHD8RZKwI

The insights on this topic are very interesting. I just wanted to express my appreciation for everyone sharing and to Harlequin for starting this discussion.

BethS said:

And don't forget dialogue. Dialogue that's oblique and/or contains unanswered questions and/or is evasive and/or has sub-text is tense dialogue. And the story should be full of it.

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I'm quoting this just because I didn't see anyone react to it and I think it's really important. This is how you make perfectly ordinary, necessary dialogue into something the reader doesn't want to put down.

My personal goal, one that I know I don't reach but that I try for anyway, is to make each and every conversation the equivalent of a beautiful waltz done through a minefield. Each character only knows where the emotional mines are that (s)he placed and is always trying to dance around them. The reader only knows that there are mines, but is drawn into the dance trying to guess where they are by the way each character moves. You, the author, know where they all are, and you make sure that every now and then, as your characters have what they think is going to be an ordinary conversation...BOOM.

Quinn_Inuit said:

My personal goal ... is to make each and every conversation the equivalent of a beautiful waltz done through a minefield.

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Too much tension is as bad as too little. I would absolutely hate a book containing a lot of that & toss it into the recycler.