Saturday, March 20, 2021

Developing Tension in Writing

 

Our topic for this month is how we develop tension in our writing. The elements of a good story, which apply to any genre, are

·         A character (hero/heroine, antagonist/protagonist), in a world (setting), with a conflict, goes through a dramatic arc, from a beginning, through a series of rising actions, to a climax and resolution, with some change in the character.

Without a conflict, a story would be flat and likely boring to read, like a single piece of string. As it is, it’s just a piece of string. Add a series of knots in it, and the picture changes. Why is a knot here and not there? What is the reason for the knots? The series of rising actions are like those knots. They are incidents that create both the pace and the tension of a story. Think of it this way. Like an elastic band being wound up, the rising actions in a story show tension. Stephen King is a master of creating tension. This quote is from my favourite King novel, Salem’s Lot.

Still, there was no sleep for him. Faces lurked in the shadows, swirling up at him like faces obscured in snow, and when the wind blew an overhanging tree limb against the roof, he jumped.

Conflict is an outright confrontation; the elastic band snapping could result in two armies fighting or two people arguing, like the characters in my upcoming contemporary western romantic suspense, Legacy of Love.


Callie drew herself up to her full height, hands fisted on her hips. “Tell me this. When you look at me, what do you see?”

Under her steady glare, Colt’s eyes narrowed. “Now there’s a loaded question,” he said. “Is this Read a Woman’s Mind 101?”

 “Be honest. I promise I won’t fire you.”

He leaned back against the corral fence, his arms across his chest, his hands tucked under his armpits. He stared at his boots and, when he looked up, Callie almost took a step back from his piercing ice-blue gaze.

“What I see right now is a woman spoiling for a fight.” She watched the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. “So how about we turn that around, huh? What do you see when you look at me? Be honest. I promise I won’t quit.”

“You are impossible,” she hissed.

As a writer, you sometimes have to be sadistic in creating conflict. Hit the character where he’s most vulnerable. If a child is floundering in a swimming pool, have someone scared of water, not an Olympic class swimmer, jump in to effect a rescue. Your rescuer could be standing on the side of the pool, frantically reviewing all the reasons why he is scared of water before taking the plunge. That raises the tension in the scene.

Now you have some idea of what tension is, let’s move on to how I create it. I start as many authors do with determining what my main characters want. Next,  why do they want it?  What is their most significant problem in getting this? What is their ultimate goal? Who or what is preventing them from getting what they want? I have used plural determiners because I write romance in which there are always two characters to consider.  My method is to work on an Excel spreadsheet. I have columns for both my characters and run lists below each, similar to writing down pros and cons. What do they each like/dislike? What are their fundamental values? It sometimes takes several questions before I begin to see where the tensions are likely to lie, and I know what can go wrong between my lovers. Who can be hurt the most from those tensions? The push-pull between the two, one denying the other or their own emotions, is the build-up to the story’s climax.

And now I’ve offered my take on the topic, visit these fine authors for their thoughts and methods.

 

Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/

Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2fU

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

 

11 comments:

  1. Hi Victoria, that's an interesting way of finding the tensions and I love the analogy of the knotted string. Anne

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    1. Thanks, Anne. I've used that piece of string analogy for a long time. I often find something visual resonants more than an explanation.

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  2. The rescuer petrified of water is a terrific example of how to crank up the tension. And I loved that scene between Callie and Colt.

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    1. Another way to crank up tension, I think, is to have short, sharp sentences. Thank you for your comment on my scene! You have no idea how relieved I was! Writing contemporary is a big break from my usual historicals and I'm never quite sure if I get it right.

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  3. I love the analogy of the knotted string as well. You have to have conflict, but you also need to allow for a bit of downtime so the reader doesn't get too fatigued. Reading, and writing, a book is a like a roller coaster ride. :) You need that climb before the exhilarating rush down the hill.

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    1. I think the slower pace you refer to can be achieved through introspection or descriptive narrative. There are a few authors I like who really do not let up and I am almost breathless when I finish the book. Clive Cussler is one of them.

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  4. Enjoyed your post! I like the idea of a list of the hero and heroines characters. The story's arc from conflict to resolution was good to read, too.

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    1. This was a good topic. Thank you, Rhobin! It made me think about a process that has evolved for me but might not work for anyone else.

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  5. "If a child is floundering in a swimming pool, have someone scared of water, not an Olympic class swimmer, jump in to effect a rescue." Yes, this is excellent.
    Your technique of writing down various elements in a spreadsheet reminds me of how Abraham Lincoln addressed a problem: columns of pluses and minuses for each possible course of action.
    If I ever did that, though, my characters would laugh at me. They would completely refuse to go along with it.

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    1. Yes, characters don't always behave as we want them to, do they? I might start off with the basics I mentioned, but when I get to the actual writing, that's a different story as I am finding with a character in Book 3 of my series Those Regency Belles. Phoebe Fisher is evolving in ways that I did not expect or want! I've tried reining her in, but that is just not working so I'm going with the flow.

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  6. Victoria, What a helpful (and organized) method to track tension by working on an Excel spreadsheet. I am organized in many ways but I'm terrible about writing notes on whatever is nearest to me and deciphering what it means later. Loved the tension in your excerpt, too.

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