I could see Sally’s breath crystallize in the air as she jogged up to the coffee shop door. Bruised and soggy leaves layered the parking lot – red, gold, purple. The sun had just baked the frost from the pink chrysanthemums blooming outside. Our little town crouched at the edge of winter – we could feel it in the air. The crisp tension of autumn, when any day we’d wake to a snowfall. The door jangled as Sally opened it. She caught my eye. “Sorry I’m late.” She dropped her backpack onto her chair. “Field trip day at school and I forgot to sign a permission slip. Congratulations on the game Friday night. I heard your son ran for a touchdown, and the other made a sack. I’ll bet it […]
Read the RestArchive | writing tension RSS feed for this section
Quick Skills: How to Build Scene Tension
I just finished book 2 of the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire. Excuse me while I go pick up book 3 and spend the day ignoring my to-do list. This series is a lesson in how to create fabulous tension. Not only is the story premise powerful, but every chapter has that “can’t put down” quality. Why? TENSION on every page (as the Master Donald Maas would say!) But what is tension. Recently, I read approximately 1,768,639 contest entries. Okay, not quite that many, but it felt like it. And very few really wove real tension into their story. Obstacles and Activity are not Tension. Tension is a combination of a Sympathetic Character + Stakes + Goals + Obstacles + Fear of Failure. If any of these are missing, we don’t […]
Read the Rest
Conversations: What is Scene Tension?
“Happy Mother’s Day, Sally,” I said, while holding a plate of basil mashed potatoes and beef medallions. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that broccoli salad – the house specialty – and eyed it as another patron of the Sunday Brunch dived in. Sally looked up as she spooned smoked salmon onto her plate. “Hello.” She glanced behind me, and I saw one of her children, the six year old, heading into the buffet line. “How’s the writing going?” “Good,” she said as she reached around me, handing him a plate. “Don’t spill.” She stepped out of line. “I don’t know if we can meet tomorrow. I have a school field trip.” “No problem, I said, we’re just going to talk about Scene Structure.” She made a face. […]
Read the RestTension Toolbox
I meant to post yesterday, Friday, but the day got away from me. Sorry, team. This is our final post on tension for now. No promises about the future. What mechanical ways can we show tension in our writing? Word choice. Short sentences. Entering the scene late, exiting early. Let’s try a scene: The wind blowing over the prairie was hot and dry as Mikaila urge her horse forward, scraping her fingers through her long blonde hair. Her cornflower blue eyes caught sight of a billowing cloud of dust rising from the horizon line, a mushroom from the earth, she thought. Wonder who it might be? She let her mind drift toward Cole who waited for her back at the ranch. They’d fought, about nothing. But she speed away on […]
Read the Rest
