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Tension and Conflict Part 7 - Stretching Tension

   Welcome to CAN Blog where we share information with you on new books, writing tips, and much more. Hello from Gail Gaymer Martin @ www.gailgaymermartin.com 

For the past seven posts, I've cover the topic of Tension and Conflict. This is a major part of writing fiction since it is emotion that captures the reader and keeps them hanging on to the pages even when dinner time rolls around.

We all want readers to love our work and good conflict triggers tension which is shown through emotion. Today the topic is Stretching Tension, and it will provide you with numerous ideas to enhance the emotion in your stories.

You know how a rubber band works. You can pull it very taut so it will snap across a room if you let

it go, or you can pull it only to stretch around an item. Tension in fiction is similar. It can be so taut the reader can’t stop reading, or it can be only tight enough to hold the plot together so it doesn’t fall apart. All types of tension are needed. Not every scene should be edge of the seat tension. Some scenes can only leave the reader asking questions or the character struggling with a dilemma.

Learning techniques that add various kinds of tension to your novel will help you keep the stress level high. Here are a few that you can use. 

Accelerate and Decelerate Details
Think about an old John Wayne Western. The bad guy faces John Wayne. Each stands waiting for the first one to draw his weapon. The camera pans in on John Wayne’s hand posed close to his holster. The camera swings to the bad guy with a closeup of his evil eyes. The camera moves to John Wayne’s boot as it shifts a half inch, then to the muscle in his jaw that is jerking with tension. Back to the bad guy, his fingers twitching.

You get the point. To create tension provide second by second details showing the growing danger or growing action. Two guns snatched from the holster followed by gun shots shows conflict but lacks the power of the tension as the viewer watches the danger build.

This same technique can be used in a family saga as we watch the mourning widow touch her dead husband’s pipe, lift his sweater and buries her nose in it. We feel the emotion. It happens in a romance as we watch the camera move to the hero’s eyes, his fingers twitching to run his hand through the hero’s hair. Though it is more difficult to capture some of the emotion through writing rather than seeing it on the screen, you can bring these emotions to life by delving in the sight images as well as the introspection of the POV character.

Interrupted Action
Use various disruptions to stop a conversation or action. The serial killer hiding behind the drape is drawn back to hide when the light turns on and a group of people enter the room. The hero leans forward planning to kiss the heroine when the telephone or doorbell rings. Two people sharing confidential information halt when a third party enters a room. This kind of interruption can also delay the action totally. The killer slips back out the window, realizing this isn’t the right time to strangle the woman. The hero has lost the moment to kiss the heroine, and the conversation may have to wait for a more opportune time. These delays add to the tension of the reader and the characters.

Distraction
In the same way interrupted action causes stress, a lesser technique can be used to give the characters time to pause and to even rethink what they are about to do or say. Use car headlights flashing on the wall. Someone might be passing or even pulling into the driveway. A barking dog can be a good distraction. It fuzzes the mind of the person talking or it makes them wonder what’s going on outside. Again could someone be coming. No matter why the dog is barking, it stops the action for a moment and in the process adds a small slice of tension.

Cliffhangers
When writing novels with multiple POVs, a great tension creating technique is to stop the scene at a place that leaves the reader hanging. The heroine hears the doorbell and opens the door. She grabs her heart and screams. Scene ends. The hero is driving along the highway, a truck swings into his lane, brakes squeal. The hero yells and veers his car to the left. Scene ends.

When you read thrillers and suspense novels, notice how chapters tend to end in this fashion. This is why it’s a thriller. But you can use this in other genres also, by cutting the scene following one character asking another a very pointed question that will make a plot difference. When she asks, have his jaw clamp and blood drain from his face. Scene ends.

Short Scenes or Chapters
In the same way as a cliffhanger, use shorter scenes that leave questions unanswered and then move on to a new scene with another POV character. This pulls the reader along anxious to find out what is happening in the previous scene.

One Step Forward, One Step Back
To add tension to your stories, allow your characters to make mistakes and misjudge situations. A husband sees his wife at lunch with a strange man. He draws the wrong conclusion. In suspense provide clues that lead to dead ends. When a criminal is about to be apprehended, turn the action around. Allow him to get away or to be proven innocent. This kind of tension is excellent in thrillers, mysteries or suspense novels. In all genre, try to develop plot situations that aren’t always perfect. Say no instead of yes. Bring on rain rather than sunshine. Miss the ride to an important appointment. Lose a phone number that is vital to the story’s plot. These conflicts add excitement and tension.

Word Choice and Sentence Structure
Words and sentence length contribute to the overall feel of a novel. Shorter sentences help create tension and thus provides a feel of action to the story’s pace. Longer sentences work in romance, some women’s fiction and literary novels because it provides a more lilting rhythm to the sentences. Keep this in mind when developing more tense scenes.

Word choice is affected by the sounds a word makes. In the English language we have alphabet sounds that are hard and some are softer. The hard sounds are p, t, b, g, k, c, d, q, and s while the softer sounds are found in m, n, l, w, f, h & in vowels. To create tension, use the hard sounds. “Shut up, and keep quiet.” He toppled the table to the floor as he trapped the woman in a death grip. In a romance, use the softer sounds. He wrapped his arm around her and eased her to him, mesmerized by her luscious lips longing to be kissed. Notice the use of softer sounds, the m, l and vowels. Keep this technique in mind when creating tension in your novels. It’s one more way to create emotion.

These techniques are among others that help to create tenson which is shown in emtion. I’m sure you will think of more. If you do, please add them to the comments for others to read as well. Until next time, blessings as you write. 

Tension and Conflict Part 5 - Methods to Create Tension

 

Happy Friday from Gail Gaymer Martin @gailgaymermartin.com

Each post from me these past weeks has been focused on Tension and Conflict. Today you'll hear about ways to create tension 

Earlier I described the difference between conflict and tension. Conflict is the action of two opposing forces. It is the butting of heads between ideas, needs, desires and wants, or it can be a single individual wanting two opposing things. What makes conflict important is the tension it creates. Tension creates the emotional response to the conflict. Without it, the conflict would not have much impact on the reader.

Tension and Conflict Part 4

Good morning from Gail Gaymer Martin www.gailgaymermartin.com.

I hope you're enjoying the summer as I have been, always busy but loving what I do. 

For the past few posts from me, we've been looking at the writing elements of Tension and Conflict. Today we'll look at Part 4 dealing with tension as a response to action. So let's go.

Tension and Conflict Part 3 - Kinds of Conflict

Here it is July already and so I'm back again with another part of Tension and Conflict.
Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com 

Most authors can name the two kinds of conflict talked about most in fiction, internal and external. Both of these are important to any novel, but don’t lose sight of two more that you may not have considered—inherent and extra-external conflict. These additional kinds of built-in conflict can add extra excitement to your fiction.

Tension and Conflict Part 2 - The Nature of Conflict

  Good morning from Gail Gaymer Martin at wwwgailaymermartin.com.

For the next few months, I'm talking about conflict and tension, the heart of fiction. It is what grabs the reader and makes the story memorable. Last week, I introduced the set up to tension  and talk about characters, their goals and the hooks that keep the reader turning pages.Today you read about the nature of conflict

. While tension is the emotion of a novel, conflict is the power. It drives the story forward and causes the reader to hang on and go with the ride.Without conflict the scenes would be a slow walk through a park. Who cares?

Yet conflict has some "need to" factors. An argument over what color to paint a wall or whether the evening will be spent watching a good movie or a sports event is a common event in many households, but it doesn’t fit the definition of conflict in fiction. Many new writers think an argument between two people is what it takes, and though an argument that severs their relationship or causes one character to do something drastic is a form of conflict, arguments are not the ultimate.

So what is the nature of conflict? What is it that conflict needs to be in fiction?

Make a difference to the plot
. The conflict must matter to the character so that the final solution will make a difference in the character’s life. The conflict must be worth the prize, meaning the solution to the conflict must be important to the character. Thinking of the movie or sport night, you can see in the long run that doesn’t make one bit of difference to a character reaching a goal.

Must have a worthy opponent
. If the conflict is involves another person, the person must be strong and clever. A dumb criminal is easily caught, but a smart one creates a dynamic story. As the main character expands his paths to undo the opponent, the opponent needs to also change and grow with the main character to make the fight worthwhile.

Must connect with the reader
. The conflict needs to be something in which a reader can relate. They can see the danger of the situation to the characters and to the even the world in a thriller. They must understand, and better yet the conflict makes even more impact if it’s something that has happened to them. This includes things like betrayal, fear, abuse, doubts, and internal struggles that many people experience.

Must produce emotion
.  Emotion is the reaction to conflict and it is what creates  tension. Conflict without tension is flat. This is the argument over a white or chocolate cake. A reader doesn’t care. They aren’t affected if a married woman comments on an attractive man, but if the woman finds herself dreaming of the man and looking forward to seeing him again, emotion is involved and thus tension since it signals a deeper conflict.

Tests the character
. Conflict that is powerful pushes a character to his limits. It forces him to demonstrate strengths & abilities he never realized he had, and it signals growth which is a must in good fiction. Readers want to see the character’s change and make progress in their lives.

Remember with gain there is loss. When the conflict is between people, someone wins and someone loses. Sometimes this could be an equally important character in the  novel, and this creates another conflict. But conflict can happen inside one person. If the character wants to be successful and famous, he will lose privacy and freedom. It goes with the gain. Along the same idea, sometimes to reach one goal, a character must lose another. To obtain the job promotion to better himself, he must move and lose connection with his family who needs him.

If you can include these qualities in your conflict, they will be powerful and suited to a strong fiction novel that relates to the reader, provides them with excitement and draws on their emotions.

 Next month, I'll kinds of conflict.  See you then.

Tension And Conflict Part I

  Welcome to the CAN Blog on this balmy day in Michigan from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com  I enjoy sharing information to you on Writing Fiction and today we begin a seven part topic of Conflict and Tension which drives the novel into the hearts of readers. So let's begin with Part I

 

The Set Up to Tension and Conflict

I recently presented a workshop on tension and conflict. The topic offers many steps to writing a good novel. I began this workshop with the basic elements needed to begin a novel because it sets up how conflict begins. Conflict is a concept you know is vital to any story. It is what drives your story and is an event that causes action between the opposition and the main character. Tension, on the other hand, is the character’s reaction to the event. This reaction arouses emotion of the character and the reader. Emotion is a must in any novel.

Examining Tone To Enhance Your Writing - Part 2

Good morning from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com

In Part 1  Understanding Tone In Fiction from January 10, the meaning of tone was defined and how it is important to your fiction. The post made it clear that authors want to work on this quality in their writing which helps to grab readers into the story and make them want to read more of the author’s books. This is a goal that you and I want as we write our novels. This post will cover dissecting tone step by step, and examining problematic areas in tone.

Romance With Hooks

   Happy Valentine's Day from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com.

What could be more appropriate than to talke about romance on this special romantic day. Though I told you'd I'd send more on using tone in fiction, today you'll learn more about writing romance and how to hook your reader. 

 

Every novel needs a variety of hooks to keep the reader turning pages. Romance is no exception.  Hanging on to the reader’s interest can result from story hooks based on a theme or a twisted premise. Opening hooks keep the reader captivated by using accepted techniques that grab the reader’s interest. Finally plotting hooks can move the reader from the end of a chapter or scene into the next without realizing it. A hook makes the story memorable. It involves the reader so deeply that all sense of time vanishes, resulting in late dinners and missed appointments. 

Understanding Tone

 

Welcome to CAN Blog for Friday from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com  I look forward to sharing another post on writing fiction with you today.

Tone is not mood, writer’s voice or style, although the novel’s tone influences those elements in fiction. Tone is the author’s attitude toward the story and the reader. It conveys emotion and temperament through word choice as it brings the story to life.

Tone is not exclusive to fiction. Non-fiction and journalistic writing is also influenced by the language of the story. Notice when you read magazine articles how the atmosphere and mood is reflected in the author’s language and the way he lays it on the paper.

 

Ways To Help Readers Connect

Welcome to the Friday CAN post this December from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com. I always happy to share information for writers on techniques of writing, especially writing fiction.

Readers are important so knowing how to help them connect to what you write is important. I hope this post will provide you with techniques and ideas that work.

Readers love stories that mean something to them. They may never experience the same event or problem, but they’ve had similar experiences or fears that those things might happen to them. It’s through the emotion authors bring to the characters that makes readers care. Caring creates an emotional connection. This is what you want.