Creating Tension

 

There are many ways to increase tension in a novel. Every good novel has it, whether internal or external, and a lot of times both. But sometimes it can be difficult to introduce tension for a number or reasons. Maybe we’re afraid of doing nasty things to our characters, or maybe we’re too worried about what our readers will think if we kill off a main character.

Whatever the reason, if we ever want to write that breakout novel, we have to push our character to the edge of a cliff and even over sometimes. Here are some ways to do that.

Change

A series of changes, whether it’s a change of scenery, a new event or introducing a new character always creates tension. And as the story progresses these changes need to become threatening and place pressure on our main character.

If you find whatever change you introduced is tipping to the positive, eventually you need to turn it sour. And through all this your protagonist should be facing her weaknesses, flaws and fears.

 

Dialogue

Dialogue is a great place for conflict to play out. It’s where power struggles happen and is loaded with emotional subtext. With the right kind of dialogue you can create all sorts of tension. Tense dialogue has lots of short sentences, fragments and white space. If you find your dialogue is rehashing events or commenting on events instead of showing them, then you’ve just shot tension in the face.

Revelation

Another way to increase tension is the Big Reveal. The most interesting characters have secrets they don’t want people to know about. Trying to keep these secrets and then to ultimately have the big reveal is a real turn on for readers. And everyone likes good foreplay that leads to a satsifying ending. Am I right? Wink. Wink. 

To pull all this together, I remember coming across another author’s blog (can’t remember who it was) and to help increase tension, she would highlight parts of her novel. All dialogue was in blue, let’s say, inner thoughts were red, scene descriptions were brown, and action/movement was green. She knew she had good pages when there was more green and blue, mingled with reds and browns. I loved this idea and although I haven’t tried it, it’s made me more aware of what I’m writing.

Finally, author Jessica Morrell suggests answering these questions when looking at the tension in your current project.

    •     Have you begun the story at the last possible moment?
    •     Does the opening create intense curiosity?
    •     Is there a single dramatic question that focuses the story?
    •     Is the story overpopulated?
    •     Does the story locale contribute to the tension?
    •     Are the subplots a source of tension?
    •     Do the flashbacks contain tension, or do they meander 

           backward in time?
    •     Is there a major reversal or surprise midway?
    •     Is there too little or too much foreshadowing?
    •     Have you withheld information from the reader until the last 

           moment?
    •     Are the stakes high and the consequences for failure dreadful?