How to Increase Tension in Your Novel

how do you drive a reader to continue turning the pages characters are always important plot is always important but to me what keeps the reader going is a driving force that a novel has to have many elements of a novel come into play here that must play well together conflict emotion and tension for example are usually the main three elements that drive a reader forward in most cases a writer doesn't want their reader to cruise through their book or read it in more than a few settings a writer's ultimate goal is to push the reader all the way through the book without them realizing it they must turn the page and find out what happens next because it's not an option the definition I go by for tension is the state of being stretched tight so you don't want your seen to be floppy or loose you want it to be strained tight you want to be able to pluck your scene like a rubber band and hear a good twang to it so I'm going over four big tips today to help add some tension to your story let's jump right in number one loosen your writing I've talked a thousand times about not wasting words don't explain details that have no purpose to the overall story via character or plot related don't write about a detail process unless you absolutely have to or unless you're building tension slowing down or speeding up your normal writing cadence sends a tiny message to the reader saying listen up something different is happening one of the reasons you're writing it needs to be tight in every other case is so these moments stand out they put the reader on the edge of their seat without them realizing it because there's a minut shift in storytelling this shift in writing should occur before the spooky or stressful or sad moments happens not too far before because we're not shifting your entire scenes writing speed but enough that the reader notices that there is a change let me pause to explain what I mean by writing speed because I kind of made that up in this context she started her car it's fast writing this is used in any normal moment this woman starts the car it's short compare that to she slid into the driver's seat one leg stretched out the open door propping her purse up on the center console she searched for her chapstick in a sea of receipts and empty snack wrappers finally resorting to dumping the trash out as she went movement registered behind her and she yanked her leg in just as a gust of wind slammed her car door shut she jerked upright her keys clinking together as a shape in the road caught her attention very rudimentary example but you get the picture there's a build-up to the action happening whatever happens with that shape in the road number two don't skimp on the stress say we're writing a scene where Joe woe comes home to find her dad waiting for her up until this moment in the novel we've learned that her dad is also a serial killer escaped from prison she really doesn't want to see him because who would when the dogs is moving a problem has been introduced and now we need to see Joe l just stress a little bit so when she opens the door to her apartment time feels like it slows down why because that's what happens in real life our bodies prepare for fight-or-flight because our survival could depend on it how do we show that any way anyone that's been in a situation like this knows that time doesn't really slow down but our senses heighten to pick up things and notice things that we didn't see before that we don't ordinarily see all this happens in rapid fire everything sharpens right into focus but what happens when we look back on that moment don't say Joe L opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside she shuffled across the dark for year until her fingers clicked the light switch on a dark figure wound in front of her her father hi Joe well he said turning on the lamp beside him I don't know why my voice is getting weird yes that was slightly creepy but no emotion no stress no reaction there we want to know Joelle's what's to go and through her mind what she's freaking out about a figure loomed in front of her her body tensed tracing the man's outline familiarity ringing in a tone she wished she could ignore years of false safety shattered as he clicked on the lamp beside him illuminating a face she wasn't supposed to ever see again show your character's reaction to a stressful situation so we talked about the before leading up to a big moment happening and when you talked about the after showing what's happening to your character not skimping on that part number three build reader tension no I'm not talking about stressing your reader out but I kind of am I'm talking about things like those end-of-chapter punches that keep a reader going I've talked about this briefly in another video but wanted to elaborate on the topic here because it just makes sense and if chapter cliffhangers are used to stress the reader so they feel it necessary to immediately begin the next chapter but not all of these cliffhangers are created equal nor should they be some may be small others may be huge bury them so that your reader doesn't feel like they're on a merry-go-round of repetitive writing that the same thing keeps happening every chapter small cliffhangers are more like Hill hangers or many cliffhangers little cute ones the best way to do this is to shape your scenes to end on the highest note of tension your chapters I mean the beginning of a chapter should be the reaction to a reveal but that reveal should happen at the end of the previous chapter I think I should be going this way because for reversed something happens and then you immediately need to know what the character is going to do about it I was gonna say something else you can also breeze over a juicy tidbit underhandedly mentioning the plot twist before it happens I love when this happens this makes the reader go wait what and wonder if that's really the direction the story is heading but that little glimpse is all they're gonna get until the plot twists and if you're doing this for a plot twist that mini reveal should happen pretty close to your plot twist this can also be used with any reveal in your story dangle it in front of for a second in a negative way don't give him any more information your character may find hidden journal and only briefly find something in it before it's swept away in a storm and then they have to fight figure out what it said later how you reveal information in your novel can be a great way to make your reader experience of the tension experience distress number four have relatable characters up until now I've talked about how to add tension in how you write a scene let's talk about the foundation for all of that tension your characters tension can come from conflict but if your readers don't care about the character when the conflict happens they're not going to feel the tension this is a common fear a lot of writers have the fear that your characters aren't going to be relatable enough it all comes down to character building even if your character is the villain the reader still has to care about what happens to them and what they're gonna do next what the reactions going to be having an active character one that effects the plot rather than a passive one that simply responds to everything happening around them definitely helps showing how they deal with and react to scenes early in your novel let's the reader feel closer to them make sure they have a vulnerability or a flaw and make sure you show that flaw and at least a few scenes in your novel before the climax where they have to overcome that flaw or fear being able to write that character comes down to really knowing them even if those details might never be written into your story you can use Myers Briggs Myers Briggs Myers personality test or any other personality test to help you figure out who your character is just something fun you can sort them into a hogwarts house if you want to people are complex though and if your character isn't your readers aren't going to care about them so spend some time to get to know your characters alright that's all I have for today as always I hope this was really helpful comment down below your favorite way to stress your reader out because why not we're writers we all love to do it I have a bajillion links below links to sign up for my newsletter including the newsletter specifically for my upcoming writers courses yeah links to purchase my why a debut dark fantasy I said that weird her down below a link to my podcast and a link I think I used too many fingers to suggest or vote on your favorite video ideas so go check them out I think I got em all covered alright until next time bye guys usually they like to make a my old videos you guys used to be in them all the time I wish everybody could see how cute you look okay don't run into anything might be good having a husky earthquake okay everyone out she's not happy

Channel: Vivien Reis

Views: 77,903

Keywords: how to write a novel, how to write a book, writing a book, writing a novel, how to write, how to outline a book, how to outline a novel, character building, world building, writing advice” book for the first time” “how to publish book” “self publishing, make your writing suspenseful, make your writing tense, increase novel's tension

Id: kqq0oD5JsUQ

Length: 9min 57sec (597 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 19 2018