Tag Archive - tension

3 Ways to Ramp Up Your Fiction Pacing and Tension

May 23, 2022 in Nailing Scene Structure, Novel Structure, The Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing with 2 Comments

Strong pacing and tension are critical in a fictional story, but they’re some of the hardest elements to understand and master. That’s because there isn’t one “right” way to pace a story, nor is there one definable factor that creates tension.

One thing readers will attest to, though: if a story’s pacing drags for too long, they’ll stop reading. And if they don’t feel tension, they’ll likely start falling asleep.

What is pacing? It’s the pulse rate of your story. At times you’ll want a slow, thoughtful pace. Other times a racing one. And those elements that create tension impact the pacing of a story. No tension means a sluggish pace.

The Culprits

Backstory and heavy opening-scene information dumps cause a story to screech to a grinding halt. Overwriting as well bogs down the pacing and kills tension. Telling instead of showing detaches readers’ interest.

But there are many other offenders that contribute to poor tension and pacing. Once you are aware of them, you’ll be able to seek and destroy the culprits that are out to drag down your scenes. Continue Reading…

8 Elements That Get Readers Invested in Your Story

August 9, 2021 in Writing for Life with 4 Comments

Today’s guest post is by Stefan Emunds.

Readers don’t just invest money but also time and effort. They suspend their disbelief and invest trust—meaning, they give you, the writer, the benefit of the doubt that you will deliver on your story promise.

They invest intellectually by figuring out clues and blinds, twists and turns, and they foresee climaxes. Last but not least, they invest emotionally by rooting for story characters and weathering conflicts and tension.

Reader investment is your goal. Reader investment means success.

You want to get total strangers to read the first chapter of your book and hook them enough to read the second. And the third. And the fourth. And so on. Reader investment means reader engagement.

These are the chief engagers:

  • Empathy
  • Curiosity
  • Tension
  • Inspiration and motivation
  • Sense of wonder and beauty
  • Emotional thrill
  • Excitement
  • Satisfaction
  • Feelings

Let’s take a look at each of these engagers. Continue Reading…

Creating Tension in Fiction Scenes

May 18, 2020 in Novel Structure with 2 Comments

Today’s guest post is by Erick Mertz.

One of the things writers commonly ask me is, how do I create more compelling scenes? How do accomplish the elusive gold standard of “show but don’t tell”?

If you have written for any amount of time, you’ve probably been given feedback along those lines. For any number of reasons, the story feels weak. The prose is filled with soft spots. Maybe the characters come off as flat. Somewhere between inspiration and execution, the story lost some necessary life.

Writers receive these types of comments for any number of reasons. Sometimes it is because of a lack of clarity in a scene or the need for vivid color in a particular description. Other times it is a matter of repetition. One section of a manuscript too closely resembles another, or else it outright mimics it. But, in my experience, one reason tends to rise above the others: a lack of conflict.

Focusing your writing on a series of strongly rooted conflicts is the best way to elevate your storytelling. In bigger terms, these would be defined as the archetypal clashes of person versus person, person versus self, or person versus machine, just to name a few. When characters are at odds with something or someone, the stakes in the story naturally ramp up, and the quality of prose follows. Continue Reading…

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