In a post on Jane Friedman’s blog, Tiffany Yates Martin examines the difference between tension and suspense and discusses how they work together in to increase the impact of your story. “The terms are often used interchangeably, and while they work in tandem, they fulfill different functions,” she writes.
Suspense creates questions in the reader’s mind, while tension is the actual conflict, obstacle, and friction confronting your protagonist. “In the basic ‘boy-meets-girl’ story trope, suspense is whether or not boy gets girl; tension is everything that stands in the way of the resolution of those questions: the missed call, the argument, the parental disapproval,” Yates Martin explains.
Every good story has a big suspense question, from the discovery of a murderer to whether an astronaut will get home from Mars. Your novel is also likely to have individual suspense sequences, like a fight scene, car chase, or emotional confrontation, depending on your genre. “What makes these questions effective is the accompanying tension that keeps us uneasy, unsettled, that calls the outcome into question,” Yates Martin writes.
Suspense and tension work together and should be included in every scene. While your story will have some peak moments of action or high emotional drama, you also need to create questions and friction for the reader along the way. These don’t have to be big moments, Yates Martin says. Friction can be created with an unexpected action, an inconvenience, a character saying no when the hero needs to hear yes.
“Good authors unspool every scene like this, constantly creating questions in readers’ minds and threading in moments of friction in large moments and small to keep them off balance and invested in the answers,” Yates Martin says. “Think of tension and suspense as layers of cake and frosting—each one a little less satisfying alone, but together they create something delicious.”
