Types of Tension

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So I’ve blogged about the vital importance of conflict in a story, as well as how tension can (and should) be used, but it’s been a while since I’ve blogged about either and I’d like to break it down a little more.

To reiterate quickly, a story without conflict or tension isn’t really a story—or, if it is, it’s a rather boring one, to put it nicely. Readers don’t want to read about characters with perfectly happy lives—we want to see characters deal with challenging circumstances, whether realistic or super speculative, and face them one way or another. But without the challenge? There’s no story to be had.

Similarly, tension is necessary throughout the story to keep the interest and build up throughout the plot until we hit the peak point of conflict. The great thing about tension, however, is it can manifest in so many different ways.

• Circumstantial tension. This is tension that comes from extenuating circumstances/some kind of outside force. Whether it’s caused by poverty, an authoritarian government, being on the run, or trying not to flunk out of college, this is tension that weighs down on the protagonist caused by circumstances out of their control.


• Tension between characters. I wrote a whole post on this one, so I won’t go into every detail, but the short version is this: characters who always get along without a problem are characters who are not being used to their fullest potential.


• Sexual tension. Whenever there’s a love interest, you know this has to play a part. Romantic relationships in books aren’t just about being near each other and kissing and getting it on—it’s the tension between them when they notice each other, when they’re close and realize they’re attracted to each other, when they want to kiss but don’t. It’s noticing every glance and touch—and it’s internalizing the building need to be closer. Without the sexual tension, the romantic relationship falls flat because they characters won’t have real chemistry. 

While this doesn’t cover every type of tension out there, hopefully it’ll get you thinking a little more about the different possibilities available to you for ramping up the micro-conflict in your story.

Do you utilize different types of tension in your writing?

Twitter-sized bites:

Writer @Ava_Jae says, "a story without conflict or tension isn't really a story." What do you think? (Click to tweet) 

Do you use different types of tension in your writing? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Tension Shortcut: Bumpy Character Relationships

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When writing, one of my favorite things to do is to make my characters argue, or at least get irritated (or preferably, infuriated) at each other.

It’s not that I don’t want my characters to ever get along, in fact, it’s important that those who are meant to work together learn to at the very least tolerate each other. But if you make the relationships between your main characters too easy, you’ll be missing out on major potential for tension and conflict.

One of the easiest ways to keep your story interesting, even between the more exciting, edge-of-your-seat scenes, is to administer a tension transfusion. A simple scene of two characters sharing the same space with nothing particularly interesting going on can become fascinating if one character is secretly angry at the other, of if they’re both openly angry, or if one character recently hurt the other, or if they’re irritated at each other, or…

I think you get the idea.

Tension between characters can be used in just about any situation and is a great way to add an underlying thread of conflict to be woven into your story.

Here’s a quick example from City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. After an incident I’m not going to spoil, but I will say involves fighting and people getting hurt, Clary (the protagonist) is assessing the situation and calming down when Jace (the sort of love interest) and company come onto the scene. Jace and Clary, at this point, are not getting along, and so what would have been an otherwise relatively calm (in comparison, anyway) scene is rife with tension:

“‘What,’ [Jace] said, with a sharp and deliberate annoyance, ‘do you think you’re doing?’
Clary glanced down at herself. She was still perched on the coffee table, knife in hand. She fought the urge to hide it behind her back. ‘We had an incident. I took care of it.’
‘Really.’ Jace’s voice dripped sarcasm. ‘Do you even know how to use that knife, Clarissa? Without poking a hole in yourself or any innocent bystander?’” (City of Ashes, page 231) 

Very quick example, as I said, but the banter is significantly more interesting if only because Jace is furious with Clary to begin with, so when he arrives he brings with him a whole new wave of conflict.

Tension between characters, to me, is always fun to write, and it’s a quick, easy way to inject some conflict into any scene.

Have you used this method to include tension in your scenes? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Do your characters get along too well? You may be missing out on potential tension and conflict. (Click to tweet)  

Looking for a way to add tension do your WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae shares a quick way to add conflict. (Click to tweet)

Conflict: The Key to a Good Story

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In order for a story to exist—or at least be worth reading—it must contain conflict. A story without conflict is like food without flavor—it's bland, boring, and hardly enjoyable to consume.

The root of all stories lies in conflict: from the story of Adam and Eve (a man and woman are told not to eat from the tree of knowledge, but a snake tempts them to do so anyway) to Romeo and Juliette (boy and girl from opposing families fall in love) to more modern stories like The Lord of the Rings (a young hobbit sets out to destroy an evil ring that many more powerful than he would kill to possess).

So what is conflict? Here's dictionary.com's definition:

When it comes to writing, conflict generally comes in two forms: internal and external, and the most interesting stories have a fair mix of both. To recap, internal conflict focuses on psychological and emotional discord (i.e.: the more Frodo wears the ring, the less he wants to destroy it—but he must in order to save Middle Earth) while external conflict operates on a more physical level (i.e.: Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo).

While the balance between the two and the amount and intensity of the conflict will vary a bit genre to genre, it's important to incorporate some kind of conflict or build up to a conflict in every scene.

Now that's not to say that there needs to be a gun-slinging psychopath attacking your characters on every other page. What I mean is in order to keep the story progressing and your readers interested, there needs to be some form of conflict—internal or external—throughout the story. In chapter one it may be something minor, like your protagonist is on his way to a job interview that could change his life and his family's negative opinion of him as a moocher, but a dangerous blizzard has hit early that morning and the terrible road conditions are making it impossible for him to arrive on time. During the climax it may be something much more significant—like a high-stakes wrestling match on Mount Doom that ends with a lost appendage and a tumble into a very active volcano.

There's no question that every story must contain conflict—and with the right mix of internal and external discord, you'll have the start to a great story on your hands.

Which if the two does your story rely on—internal or external (or both)? Do you have a preference writing or reading-wise between the two?

Tension: A Valuable Tool

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As a writer, it’s your job to make life hard for your characters. Put simply, no one wants to read a story where everything is hunky dory and the characters cruise through life without a care in the world and life is so good it’s like Christmas every day.

In order for a story to be interesting, in order to keep your readers turning the pages, there needs to be constant conflict. On every page.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that someone needs to run in with a gun in every chapter or that you need constant high-action scenes—in fact, too much of the same thing, even something as exciting as gun fights and car chases will tire your reader out and, eventually, bore them.

So how do you keep your readers interested between those high-excitement scenes without exhausting them? The answer, my friends, is tension.

The definitions (via Google dictionary) for tension are actually pretty interesting, so I’m going to share them with you.

I especially like the first, third and last definition, but looking over them I think you can get a pretty good idea as to what tension really is.

Tension is like micro-conflict—it’s an underlying pressure that should build up as the plot progresses, water turning into steam in a kettle. When used correctly, tension brings your readers from the first plot point to the last, it sews everything together and keeps the pages turning.

So how is tension utilized in a story?

I’m going to use a couple of popular examples (without spoiling anything, I promise), because there’s a lot to be learned from best-sellers. So.

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)—In the beginning of the book, Katniss and Peeta have to pretend to be friends, an idea that doesn’t sit well with Katniss as they will have to kill each other once the games begin. This is pretty brilliant on Suzanne Collins’ part, because it makes every action (even something as simple as eating breakfast next to each other) rife with tension.

Harry Potter and theSorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling) —Again, taking from the beginning of the book, when we meet Harry he’s living in a cupboard under the stairs with his hateful Aunt and Uncle who would rather pretend he (and his magic) doesn’t exist. Instant tension.

Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi)—Without giving anything away, an imprisoned girl who can’t touch anyone without killing them wakes up in her cell to find a boy is now there. And a rather obnoxious one at that, who seems to have no problem getting terrifyingly close to her. Tension.

Tension is a valuable tool that you can (and should) use at every stage of your story—you don’t need to wait until a huge plot point to utilize it, in fact tension at the beginning of your novel is a great way to hook readers from the start. All of the examples I gave you come right from the beginning of their respective novels.

Don’t ride over any opportunity to use tension—it’s a valuable asset in your toolbox that can really hook your readers in right from the start.

Are you using tension in your novels? What other examples of great use of tension do you have?