Tension: Guest Blog by David Owens

04 August 2018

For this post I am turning over the reins to David Owens, an eagle-eyed editor, friend, and all-round good guy. Take it away, Dave...

Tension

When someone asks me, “what makes a good story?” I answer, “tension.”

Why is tension so important to story development? Tension is the “binder,” the element that glues the reader to the story. Tension is energy. No amount of excellent writing can overcome the lack of tension in a story.

What is tension? Tension can be many things. Perhaps a character worries about losing a loved one, or perhaps tension is the threat of a hidden mine on a battlefield. In another story the character might be forced to overcome insurmountable difficulties. Tension must exist consistently and continuously in a story.

Tension is the writer’s promise and the reader’s reward.

Tension in narrative and dialogue holds readers attention.  When a writer masterfully integrates tension into a story, the tension moves the narrative forward, but tension in dialogue is the trick most fiction writers use.  Compelling conflict is the solution. Readers love conflict, any kind of conflict, and may abandon a story the moment conflict vanishes (when it becomes a boring story). The level of conflict is unimportant, except in action scenes where conflict rages through the use of short language bursts in the narrative, and snappy dialogue. The writer’s job is to creatively integrate moments of tension throughout the work. Anything else comes across bland and unsatisfying.

Ask yourself the question, “Why do I read?” Well, why DO you read? Is it because the writer describes beautiful scenes, or is it because you search for an answer? Now ask yourself what is the question a story must answer. Now you’ve found it! Yes, tension must be the reader’s constant companion in a story. Tension grips readers and holds them until the end of the story. Readers search for an answer to the question: “What happens to the main character?”

Examine your favorite story. If the story contained sufficient tension, you finished reading and discovered you lost track of time. You became so immersed in the story time became unimportant. You found yourself on another world, in another time, in an exotic setting, but behind those settings, tension’s unrelenting power controlled you. Control tension by the use of active verbs, strong adjectives, and leave out the weak adverbs. Avoid common, and simple verbs. Show don’t Tell.

Examples:

John was running from the bad guy. ß passive verbs, telling
John ran from the bad guy.  ß weak verb, telling

John raced from the scene.  ß stronger verb, telling

Active/Showing: The villain’s footsteps thundered across the quiet parking lot. John glanced over his shoulder…

To further increase tension the writer may revise: John glances over his shoulder, smashes (strong verb) into a parked car, and then plunges (strong verb) onto the wet pavement

(Difficult to run on wet pavement. No?) I Capitalized stronger verbs used to create tension.

1. In the example the VILLAIN introduces the thought, focuses the reader away from John for a moment. (Tension/Danger).
2. THUNDERED (Tension/Alarm) is the WAY footsteps sounded to John. The word QUIET magnifies the sound and increases tension.
3. John’s fear increases, and he GLANCES (Tension/Urgency) to verify the villain’s distance from him. (Tension/Fear).

Flaccid language is not the solution to the management of voice. Neither are petty verbs. Strong (active) verbs are the writer’s weapons to expose voice and increase tension.  Most writers today, especially the self-published ones, tend to read one genre, and then copy the style of other weak writers. The examples I showed above did not contain any “ING” verbs, and not once did the word “Had” appear. “Had” is like a flashing billboard notice – “Warning. Passive voice ahead!”

Passive voice may be identified easily. Some of the word indicators are: Had, Was, and Were. ING verbs weaken any scene and dilute conflict. An unfinished draft about the “Dangers of Passive Voice” sits on my desktop, and perhaps I may be honored to post it in this blog at a future date.

Use the thesaurus to find better verbs, better words, and integrate those words into your story.

Copyists do not often find success. To avoid “Copyism,” read outside your preferred genre.

Success comes from bright, original stories, with intense characters and powerful writing, not from the passive, uncontrolled language of amateurs. Copy not another writer. Be yourself and let your language cause you to soar above mediocrity. Be not satisfied with simplicity, but write engaging tales that flow from your keyboard with energy and passion.

Write well,

Dave

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David A. Owens is a writer and editor from Murfreesboro, TN. He has published Science Fiction, Horror, General fiction, and non-fiction. Questions or comments may be addressed to him by email: editor@netsite21.com

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Picture for today is from Calvin and Hobbes. Might be some tension there. Wonder what they are talking about? Or should I say yelling about?

May your days be good and long upon this earth. Unless you go to Mars. And then I hope you rot because I'd be a little jelly.