How To Incorporate Tension in Stories

At the heart of all good writing is tension, that fun little concept that keeps readers invested and willing to stay up until 3am to get in one. More. Chapter. But how do we make sure our story offers that experience?

Tension can be tricky; it can leave the reader feeling either fulfilled or disappointed. Either way, it's a main selling point of your story, because a story without tension is boring. There are plenty of ways to add tension to a story and get your audience to feel what you want to them to feel.

Be MEAN (seriously)

One of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve ever gotten was, “Be mean to your characters.” Destroy what they're proud of. If they’re happy, find a way to make them sad or angry or hopeless. If they want something, do everything in your creative power to keep in away from them. Here’s a fantastic article that offers different ways to incorporate struggles for your characters.

Being mean to your characters will enhance the tension you want to build. The audience will feel bad for the character or frustrated at the situation and BOOM, tension is created. But be careful – too much misfortune to a character could result in monotony of plot, which can lead to disinterest. So, throw in some wins and keep the hope somewhat alive; you can and should eventually be kind.

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But first, be mean.

Conflict does NOT equal tension

Let’s get one thing straight: a story can have plenty of conflict and not an ounce of tension. Why? Because the reader doesn’t care. Maybe they don’t care about the plot, or the character, or the chapter they’re reading; it doesn’t really matter. Throwing misfortune into the story without building a relationship with the reader causes a lack of tension.

One must understand the difference between conflict and tension. They can work together (and often do), but it is possible to have one without the other. Review the main areas of conflict in your story: is there an emotional response by the character? Is there buildup to the conflict? If not, you may need to rework the section so that these elements exist and produce tension.

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Let the audience breathe

We’ve all been there: you’re hours into a book and suddenly you’re exhausted. You feel like your eyes just ran a marathon and you haven't taken a breath in years. That’s because you just experiences too much tension. Yes, writing can have too much tension, and too much of anything is never good.

Your reader needs a break. Tension and pacing are one in the same. Let the tension ebb and flow throughout the story, and remember that comical or introspective moments add just as much to the story as tension does. By incorporating less intense moments into your story, you allow time for the audience to recharge and get ready for the next bout of action.

Remember your subplots

Yes, subplots can have tension as well, and we would all do well to remember that. Subplots can create questions or mystery, can begin romance or provide vital information. This adds suspense and, therefore, tension. 

Subplots can also introduce other characters that may make the protagonist’s end goal even less attainable. For example, a romantic subplot can include a breakup or relationship troubles that distract the protagonist from their goal. Creating tension in subplots adds to the overall feeling of anticipation in the story.

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Understand your story

This is, perhaps, the most important part of incorporating tension into a story. In order to create successful tension, we need to fully understand our story and our characters. What is the character’s personality like? What makes them nervous? Does the plot lend itself to building tension at the beginning, middle, or end? Will you end on a cliffhanger?

By understanding your story and the characters in it, building tension becomes easier. Lee Child writes, "As novelists, we should ask or imply a question at the beginning of the story, and then we should delay the answer." He gives the example of killing a character at the beginning of a novel: the audience knows that someone has been killed, but they have to keep reading to find out how and who did it. He understands how his story works, and how to build suspense off of that.

Some final thoughts...

So there you have it. I think I've used the word tension so much it's starting to not look or sound like a word anymore. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

Regardless, I hope this is useful. Creating conflict is simple, but adding the important layer of tension can be frustrating. It goes beyond inventing misfortune and bullying your beloved characters; we have to make the audience feel, and that isn't always easy. 

For more great tips on how to create tension, check out this article that explains tension in technical detail and gives levels of tension to use in narrative writing. My favorite quote from this article: "Tension is an abstract concept that can be explained in one word: anticipation."

That's it. That's tension.

Next time, get ready to talk about one of the best-selling authors of all time: Stephen King.