What is tension?
Tension is a state of mental or emotional stress, usually with an element of suspense.
Types of tension:
There are many different types of tension. Here is a short list: horror, mystery, romantic tension, social tension, familial tension, nervous tension, and comedic tension.
How do we create tension?
All scenes with well-written tension have three things in common:
1. Something at stake (i.e. survival)—This generally means that there are two possible outcomes to the main character’s situation. The higher the stakes, the greater the tension. ! 2. An emotional component—The reader must be emotionally invested in the character. If the reader does not care what happens to the protagonist, the tension is not effective. Therefore, when writing a scene with tension, writers need to appeal to universal emotions that the readers can relate to, such as love, hate, anxiety or fear. Writers achieve this through descriptive language. ! 3. Descriptive language—Scenes with tension typically have vivid detail and strong verbs.
a. Strong verbs, or power verbs, are verbs that convey meaning in one word and can replace more passive phrases. For example, “He delegated the tasks,” rather than “He told everyone what to do” or “Blood pooled on the floor,” rather than “There was a pool of blood on the floor.” Strong verb choices make the sentences active and direct. Not all sentences should or have to be active and direct, but an abundance of passively worded sentences detracts from the quality of the writing, as the extra words weigh down the narrative. ! ! ! b. Verbs like see, hear, and feel are actually weak verbs. It is great to appeal to the senses and describe what the protagonist experiences, but this can be done without the verbs “see” or “hear.” For example, rather than saying “I could see a knife in his hand and could feel a cold sweat spilling down my back,” try writing the sentence without “see” and “feel” and focus on describing the gun or how seeing the knife makes the narrator feel. “The knife gleamed in the sunlight and a menacing smile spread across my attacker’s lips. Cold beads of sweat trickled down my back. I’ve only got one chance to make it out of here alive, I realized, one chance, starting now.” The second example is stronger because it tells what the narrator sees, feels, and thinks without explicitly saying so. Sometimes words like “see,” “feel,” and “hear” weigh down your writing. Other times, they are necessary. The word “realize” in the second example might not necessarily be needed, but the sentence reads well with it included. It’s okay to include weaker verbs to add variety as long as there are strong verbs present. An overabundance of weak verbs slows down the pace and reduces the tension. Luckily, turning weak verbs into power verbs is an easy fix. ! c. Show don’t tell. Tense scenes often use descriptive language to show what the reader is physically experiencing. In thrillers, rather than saying “I’m scared,” there is typically a reference to sweat or the heart pounding in order to illustrate fear. Romance writers also use sweat and a pounding heart to describe what the narrator feels when being kissed. In this situation, it is meant to illustrate love. The same bodily responses can be used to fit multiple situations. ! d. The descriptive language in tense scenes typically focuses on what the character feels. Is his chest tight? Do his fingers tingle? There is less emphasis on describing the setting because this slows the pace of the story down and reduces the tension. Some writers intentionally add in descriptions of the character’s surroundings to slow the pace down. Describing the setting is not a bad thing. However, one must make sure that the descriptions are relevant to the story. If it is a scary story, describing the shadows dancing on the wall could add to the suspense. Noting that the main character’s best friend is wearing track pants does not—unless of course, the track pants are an important detail later. Choose your details carefully.