Tension is key to narrative drive, the element that keeps readers turning pages. If you’re writing a mystery novel, you might think that your sleuth’s drive to solving crimes is enough tension to sustain a book, but that might not be the case. In a recent post, Zara Altair says every scene needs tension and micro-tension.
“Tension happens before the conflict,” Altair explains. “The conflict resolves the tension with a win or lose outcome. And when your character loses, the tension continues with new questions about what will happen next.” You might be tempted to confuse tension and conflict, but you shouldn’t. Arguments and fight scenes present conflict, but they don’t raise tension. They are what happen at the end.
So, how can you sustain tension in your novel? With micro-tensions. “Every problem has the potential to generate tension,” Altair says, suggesting three ways to do it.
Dialogue. Create tension by showing what people don’t say when they speak. A detective may not reveal all the truth to a witness or suspect. A suspect will hold back information from the detective or just act sneaky. This plants questions in your readers’ minds, which creates micro-tension.
Action. Your character will probably have an internal dialogue about the actions they take. If you present this well, your reader will begin to wonder what your hero will do with these thoughts and feelings, and whether their thoughts and actions conflict.
Exposition. While you don’t want to drown your reader in exposition, some judiciously placed details will start creating questions they want to answer. Are there social conflicts in your story world? Bad weather? Is the city or neighborhood troubled? Altair suggests contrasting your character with your setting and using place as an obstacle. “A bit of exposition in every scene gives your reader details,” she explains. “Then your reader needs to know how those details impact the story.”
