Let’s face it, without the odd slither of tension, life would be dull and boring. Well, it’s the same story when it comes to writing – without a little tension in books, they become tedious too. By creating tension in your writing and raising the emotional level of the text, the reader is forced to remain interested in the story. Unfortunately, many writers are afraid to add tension, as they think people can’t handle it. However, they’re as wrong as wrong can be!

Creating tension in your writing involves constantly raising the stakes for your character, so he/she has to work hard to get what he/she wants. Tension hooks readers and ensures they continue to turn the pages. Authors use many tricks to invoke tension in their books. Here are a few methods of creating tension in your writing that you might like to try:

* Time Limit. If something has a time limit it signals automatic pressure. If your character has to reach his/her goal by a certain time, mental and emotional tension are a cert.

* Dialogue. Conversations between characters can elevate the tension. For example, if your protagonist wants something from the other character but doesn’t want that character to know.

* Pacing. Well written fiction ebbs and flows to match the pacing of the story. Each time your character hits a crisis point, the pacing should speed up. Once the crisis has been solved, tell the story at a gentler pace. Not long after another crisis appears, greater even than the last. The ebbs shorten as the plot quickens, finally reaching a climax. Your reader will anticipate these peaks in the tension, and as a result won’t be able to put your book down.

* Sentence structure. Short sentences with active verbs signal tension. On the other hand, long, meandering sentences filled with adjectives and adverbs indictae a relaxed pace.

Different genres require different kinds of tension. Tension is generally much greater in young adult novels, but in one form or another, tension must be present in all books in order for them to sell.

Can you think how the last book you read affected you? Perhaps you shed a few tears at a particularly sad (or happy) moment? What caused you to react like this?  It’s ultimately to do with characters, timing, plot, believability, and of course tension!

-- From the Word Queen (and Court)