Let’s take a look at the first several definitions of Tension found on http://www.dictionary.com

ten⋅sion   /ˈtɛnʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ten-shuhn] Show IPA

Let’s face it. Tension is really no fun. But all of life is full of tense moments. Moments where we wonder what is going to happen to us, or a loved one, or our favorite basketball team. In real life tension doesn’t always end in a fulfilling way. (The team loses, a loved one gets hurt, we have a bad day, etc.) But you can use that knowledge (the basic understanding of what tension feels like) that all your readers innately have to make your characters sympathetic.

For literary purposes, tension is what makes your reader want to keep turning the pages. You want your reader so emotionally invested in your characters that they can’t put the book down.

There are any number of ways of painting tension into a scene, but for the purposes of keeping this post short, I will focus on one way.

**Give your characters conflicting desires.

In romance, for instance, it is common for the heroine to be attracted to the hero, but have a good reason why getting together with him isn’t a great idea. When you portray that image of her heart longing to give in, but her mind telling her this is not the right thing to do, you will draw your readers in because they understand what it is like to want something but know it isn’t what they should do.

Let me give you a short clip from my current WIP of what I’m talking about. Just prior to this scene, my heroine, Victoria, overheard her husband-of-convenience telling another woman that he wasn’t happy with her.

“Ria,” he whispered into her hair, “you misunderstood what you saw today.”

“Did I?” The words came out on a tiny squeak and frustration coursed through her. Why couldn’t she at least sound self-assured around him? She pressed her lips together and tried to step away, but he used the movement to catch her elbow and move her into the corner of the kitchen cabinets; then had the audacity to lean one arm against each cupboard.

He leaned in. “Yes, you did.” There was an intensity in his eyes that she didn’t ever remember seeing before.

She swallowed. “Everything I saw and heard seemed pretty clear. You don’t have to lie to me just to make me feel better, Rocky.”

His brows lowered and a muscle along his jaw bunched as he leaned a little closer. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you just called me a liar, for a moment.” A softness settled around his eyes.  “What did you hear exactly?” He lifted one hand to push back an escaped curl, his touch whisper-soft against her cheek.

Tremulous quivering burst to life in the pit of her stomach. She willed it away and opened her mouth to tell him exactly what it was that she had heard…. What had she heard, again? “Um…” She took in the day-old stubble that dusted his firm jaw, the small white scar that peeked out from the dark curl drooping over his forehead, and the way he worked one side of his lower lip with his teeth, and couldn’t quite remember what it was she wanted to say.

A crinkle appeared at the corners of his eyes and his fingers caressed her cheek more firmly as he leaned even closer. “Having a hard time thinking, Ria?”

So, hopefully you can feel the tension in that piece between what her heart wants and what her mind is telling her. It is hard to get the whole picture, sometimes, from just a short clip.

There are other ways of filling your pages with tension. But this is one that works well. Thoughts? Questions?

Next time we’ll talk about secondary characters.

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Tags: building tension, creating a page turner, story tension, tension in fiction