Tension–the Writer’s Gorilla Glue
Well Super G is back, so I can’t talk about her like I did for the past two weeks. Most of the stuff I said wasn’t true. At least it couldn’t be proved.
Speaking of tension, that’s our topic of the day. Last weekend I read Brandilyn Collins latest, That Dog Won’t Hunt. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Ron, a super-macho guy like yourself readin’ a women’s lit book? It’s okay. You can maintain your high opinion of me. I have my reasons.
First, I knew it would be well written because Brandilyn’s been writing great novels for a while now. Second, I needed the lesson in tension.
You see, us mystery and suspense writers can get a little lazy. If we need tension in a scene–and we always need tension in a scene–we just bring in a guy with a gun. Armed nutcase = instant tension. Unless you have about 60 gun-toting maniacs lined up outside your protag’s apartment, though, you’re going to need other means of adding tension.
Enter non-suspense literature
Readers want tension. In. Every. Scene. Do I need to repeat that. I’m too lazy, go read it again. Your job is to make sure the Gorilla Glue of tension is embedded in every scene. No tension, the reader breaks the bond and goes to sleep for the night. Not good. Keep her awake. Make him late for work. Never let your reader sleep! Only tension will make that happen.
Like I said, though, you can’t count on the guy with the gun in every scene. He’s union (United Brotherhood of Psychotic Killers) and only works two or three scenes per novel. That leaves you with about fifty or so scenes to fill with non-weaponized tension. So let’s take a look at some fun-filled types of tension at your disposal.
Your Tension Toolbox
Romance. Put a man and woman in a room with a mutual, but unspoken, attraction toward one another and you have the best tension known to man and babekind. Just about every TV series uses it. Castle used it to the max. Know when the series started to suck? When Castle and the ever-hot Detective Kate hopped in the sack. Tension broken. Now we’re back to relying on gun-toting maniacs.
Money. Do yourself a favor and listen to the Dave Ramsey show on the radio for a while. I get tense every day between 4 and 5pm as I drive home. Why? Because I listen to the callers on Dave’s show and get sick when I hear the financial messes they get themselves into. Have your protag’s broke and in debt brother move in with him, bringing his stupid habits with him. Tension.
Politics. I really don’t need to go beyond that word, but just to be sure, imagine your pro-life protag stuck in an elevator with a wealthy abortionist. Or Rush Limbaugh in the same elevator with Nancy Pelosi. Make the differences of opinion work for you. Just be sure not to go overboard. Remember, the readers on the opposite side of your political beliefs spends money on books, too. We’re all capitalists here.
Kids. Kids, especially teenagers, come with their own special form of tension. That’s because they can ignore things like common sense and prioritizing. They want what they want and they want it now. It really doesn’t matter if your protag mom just got done running the ten-mile dash with the aforementioned armed maniac on her tail. Little Johnny wants a ride to the mall, and the credit card, or his life will be ruined. So change into a blouse without bullet holes and take care of his needs!
Family. Family gets a separate category from kids because these tend to be more in-depth, and long term, issues. The classic “sister stole my boyfriend and married him” is always good for a little tension-glue. Read Brandilyn’s new book and you’ll get more family tension than you can shake a cat at.
The Combo Plate. Naturally, a combination of these and other avenues of tension will really amp up the scene. Have your protag’s hippie liberal, and broke, brother move in with his teenage daughter and you’ve got an entire novel of tension. Gun-free.
Naturally, there are different levels of tension, and I should probably save that for another post. But this is probably instinctive for most of you. Only Jack Bauer can stay awake for 24 hours, on full-alert the entire time. The rest of us need sleep and restroom breaks. Spread the tension accordingly. Just keep the reader awake and engaged.
