In a guest post on Writers in the Storm, Janice Hardy points out common mistakes in conflict and tension, and how beginning writers mix them up. “Confusing conflict with tension has caused a lot of frustration, because they’re so closely linked, they seem like the same thing—except they aren’t,” she says.
When conflict arises, a character must make a choice about their direction. However, if readers don’t care about the choice or if the choice is easy or irrelevant, there is no tension. The conflict is simply something that happens, not something readers care about. “Conflict is all about choices and the fear of making the wrong one,” Hardy explains. “Tension is all about the reader’s need to know what happens next.” In other words, conflict is interesting, but tension keeps pages turning.
If you’re unsure if you’re confusing conflict and tension, look at your scene and ask:
- Is there opposition to your protagonist’s goal? Without opposition, there’s no conflict. Tension arises when the reader is worried that the hero will fail. Without a change of failure – consequences – there’s no worry and no tension.
- Is this opposition creating a challenge to overcome, or just an obstacle to get past? Simple obstacles don’t always make for good challenges or good reading. Consider if your obstacle is an actual conflict or merely a delay.
- What’s driving the reader’s need to turn the page? A good mix of conflict and tension creates uncertainty about what will happen and anticipation for seeing the resolution. If your reader could skip the scene without losing the story, the chances are good you need more conflict.
- Is the outcome obvious? “If there’s anticipation but no problem to overcome, the outcome of the scene will likely be obvious,” Hardy notes. “There won’t be a choice to make, or a challenge to face, because there’s no conflict preventing the protagonist from acting.” For example, if your readers know that your thriller hero will eventually defuse a bomb, there’s no tension.
- Scene Not Working? If a scene isn’t working, examine conflict and tension separately. “Maybe you have plenty of tension, but the conflict is lacking,” Hardy writes. “You might have a great conflict that requires the protagonist to really struggle to resolve or overcome it, but readers just don’t care because there’s no tension. Perhaps you have too little of both and that’s bringing the entire scene down.”
