Writing Rules: Keep It Tense
Readers can be very fickle, and they have every right to be. They’re looking for a good time. They want an adventure of some sort that they can invest themselves in and enjoy. At their core, readers are seeking entertainment. And it’s our job as writers to entertain them. If we bore them for even a second, no one can blame them if they lose interest. There’s an endless supply of other books out there, along with a million other things they could be doing.
Having all that competition might seem pretty daunting, but no worries, friends. Keeping your reader’s mind from wandering is actually pretty simple. All you have to do is create enough tension.
Tension is the driving force that keeps readers glued to your pages. It’s what keeps them up too late because they can’t put your book down. Without solid tension, your audience will get bored. They will lose interest. And there’s a good chance they won’t ever finish reading your story.
Your story should be soaked in tension. On every single page. That’s right. All of them.
Before I go on, let’s just go ahead and establish what I really mean when I say tension. Because I don’t want anyone mistakenly thinking I mean action. Action does not automatically create tension. Violence does not automatically create tension. Explosions, gun fights, monster attacks, and gory deaths do not automatically create tension. You can throw all these things at me, plus jetpacks, and still lose my interest.
Tension is a mixture of several different elements that come together to hold the reader’s attention. Tension is made up of good characterization, high stakes, dilemmas, questions, and changes. Of course, there are many other things that can be used to create tension–these are just your MVPs.
Now, let’s break this ingredient list down a little.
Good Characterization
This one is obvious, but also so damn important. You should always strive to develop dynamic, engaging characters. Give your readers an interesting character they can bond with and care about. I won’t go too deeply into this one, since I’ve already done several other posts specifically about characterization, which can be found here. Of course, if you have any lingering questions, feel free to ask.
High Stakes
Ask yourself what your character has to lose. What do they care about? What are they passionate about? Now, threaten to take that from them. Do it again and again until your character will certainly be a broken person if they happen to fail. Every new thing that your character could potentially lose will raise the stakes and keep the tension high.
Dilemmas
These are the tough choices your character has to make. There’s no easy-out to save them. This choice has to be made, and there should be a very real chance that whatever they choose will have profoundly negative consequences.
Questions
Your reader should always have questions they want answered–about the characters, the world, the conflict, or what have you. And you should always give them those answers. Just not right away. Make them wait. Feed them the less important answers early on and save the tastiest revelations until much later.
Changes
Never let your character get too comfortable. Knock them off balance with some big changes. Whether it’s new people, new places, experiences, or whatever, make them face changes that will force your character to struggle and evolve.
All in all, make an engaging character and make them struggle and fight. Let them lose things and make bad choices and be transformed by their journey. Give your reader all this, and they’ll lose sleep for your book.
And here’s a little bonus tip before I go. When creating tension, keep Murphy’s Law in mind. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Don’t give your characters a break. There’s no time for relaxing when there are readers to entertain.
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