Let's talk about tension.

[Svrtnsse]

I think I may have lost it. I'm not quite sure what we're talking about anymore.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

I think I may have lost it. I'm not quite sure what we're talking about anymore.

Well, the main topic is tension.

Is tension used to control the reader's emotion? Can a writer control the reader's emotion? Maybe we should have broken out the sub-topic of controlling reader emotions in a separate thread?

Back to the main topic, does anyone else have any thoughts on FifthView's thoughts regarding change and tension?

I remember one previous discussion about tension. I think I wrote then, and would reiterate here, that I view tension as being solely a description of what the reader feels—not what the character feels.

So I am in total agreement about car chases and fight scenes. My reaction as a reader may very well be Meh. So what? The fact that the character is freaking out, or is about to fail in achieving a goal, or whatever, may be immaterial to me.

Meh might not be my reaction, even before I know much about the characters or the story. A car chase or fight scene could be thrilling in and of itself if it is particularly odd, clever, whatever. The scene could tell me something about the world that intrigues me. Science fiction and fantasy might have that advantage: the very weird technology and/or magic on display during the car chase or fight scene might instantly provoke those...questions?

But I think I might take a step back and look at the issue of questions vis-a-vis tension. I think questions might only be a symptom of what's happening when tension is created.

While reading over the early posts in this thread, the thought occurred to me:

Tension correlates to moments of change. Or, potential change, perhaps.

For the reader—and that is the only real consideration—whatever is happening on the page is in flux whenever there is tension. Yes, questions of some sort are likely to be occurring also (even if not consciously considered by the reader.) But the "questions" arise because the reader is reading along as if walking across a gap between two skyscrapers on a tight wire and the wire shakes. Or maybe the better metaphor would be a walk across a taut rope that is fraying nearby or at its end even as the reader crosses the gap over a canyon. Does this line continue all the way to the end—or is something about to change that path?

Another metaphor, or example, might be the line break in a poem. For me, that line break had better be important. It had better signal a potential change in the path of the line. [Here, best to think of "line" as line of thought.] Otherwise, it will come across (!) as irrelevant, pointless, random, etc.

It isn't necessary for what comes after the line break in a poem to be odd, unexpected, or a total break in the line of thought:

It isn't necessary for what comes after
the line break in a poem
to be odd, unexpected, or a total break
in the line of thought,
so long as the lion
gets to eat the reader
at the end.​

Well now, that was odd.

Just pulled that out of my whatever. A silly example, perhaps. The point I would make is that each moment of change introduces the potential for the line of thought—or, the story's line; throughline?—to veer into an unexpected direction.

With a lack of tension, everything would play out more or less as expected. With tension—yes, no, maybe. So yep, there are "questions" of a sort, but there's more to it, I think.

All of the above kinda ignores the importance of stakes and reader investment in the particular characters and story. These, I think, are necessary additional considerations for the writer wanting to create tension for the reader. But I just wanted to shoot an arrow deeper into the hole to see if I could strike the bottom.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I think I may have lost it. I'm not quite sure what we're talking about anymore.

Right, so, sorry about that.

It was pretty late and I was quite tired after a long day (a few pints didn't help). It felt a bit like we were all saying more or less the same thing, but with words that had different meanings depending on who wrote them - or the other way around.

The idea of controlling/influencing the reader is an interesting one, and it might be good for a different thread. Gonna have to let the thoughts settle a little before I create that one though.

As for tension in itself. Gonna have to have a think about that too, or I'll just be rehashing something I've already said (not that I don't do that all the time anyway, but I'd like to at least put some effort into changing it up a little).

 

[Heliotrope]

I'll address what FifthView said. I wanted too.... but had a busy weekend.

So, I pretty almost agree with everything FifthView says, and this is no different. For sure there has to be change... a change of heart, and change of mind, a change of path, a new choice, a new obstacle... something that raises new questions.

If the through line only has one question "Will they stop the T-Rex?" and no other questions are raised, they simply find the t-rex and stop it, than it isn't really that great of a story and there is very little tension.

Jurassic Park
Will they stop the T-Rex?
Yes.
The end.


However, let's pretend we keep the through line the same "Will they find and stop the T-rex?" But then we add, like FifthView showed with the poem "line breaks" (Which, in fiction, would simply be obstacles... or choices, or new stuff happening) then it puts the through line in question.

Jurassic Park
Will they find and stop the T-rex? Maybe?
But there is a storm and the communication system is down.
And there are kids out there who could get harmed.
And the vehicles can't work in the mud.
And they are out of ammunition.
And the electronic fence is down, so now the raptors are out of their cages...
Etc, etc, etc
Until you finally get to "YES!"
The end.

The story is identical. But, every change adds a new choice to make. A change of heart. A change of mind. It all adds new tension. New questions raised, even though the outcome is the same.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Change is essential on a chapter to chapter basis, not purely for tension, but it is part of it. It can be a peg along the character arc, threat level, theme, whatever, but a chapter without change that retains the status quo in its entirety probably has issues. The Story Grid by Coyne is one the better in detail explanations of this process.

 

[Heliotrope]

Change is essential on a chapter to chapter basis, not purely for tension, but it is part of it. It can be a peg along the character arc, threat level, theme, whatever, but a chapter without change that retains the status quo in its entirety probably has issues. The Story Grid by Coyne is one the better in detail explanations of this process.

I’d argue that change is essential, for my young audience, on a page by page basis, let alone chapter by chapter. I try to add something “new” every 250 words.

 

[Peat]

What Heliotrope just posted reminds me a lot of the whole Scene-Sequel thing as Jim Butcher has written about - particularly the bit about no solution ever going perfectly. Its all those additional complications that keep the tension alive. If it ends quickly, you can't keep the tension going. If it goes on with nothing happening, the tension falls flat. If things keep happening, keeps changing...

Creating tension is "easy". But sustaining it, keeping it going and going without annoying the reader or having it go soggy like a bad loaf of bread... to me, that is the hardest bit.

 

[Devor]

I still haven't had the chance to fully catch up on this thread, so forgive me in advance if I'm repeating anybody or missing something important that's been brought up already.

I figure if Heliotrope can bring up Curious George, I can toss up another scene from my Ladybug fanfiction.

This one needs a little context. After they just defeated the sewage villain Pipeline, Alya, Ladybug's friend who writes a blog about them, just asked Chat Noir whether he was going to turn supervillain when Ladybug breaks his heart. Chat Noir made a joke and a pose and took off like it was nothing. Ladybug, however, is pissed and tries to follow him to see if he's alright.

Chat Noir was supposed to be humbled by a little sewage, not humiliated with the question of their lives, asked by a friend but phrased like a high school bully, for his feelings to be put on display and mocked for the public.

He looked cute in the dripping muck, Ladybug thought when she had thrown the surfboard into the air, which then dissolved into her Miraculous Ladybug damage-fixing wave that cleaned up the sewage everywhere but her kitty. She still didn’t understand how that power worked. Did it leave him in a mess because part of her wanted it to or because that was somehow lucky?

It didn’t feel lucky. Poor Chat. She was proud of him for how well he handled it. He took that question while covered in sewage and didn’t even hesitate. But he had to find it humiliating, didn’t he? Was Chat Noir really that happy even with the muck and that question or was this proof of his ability to fake it?

Damnit, why didn’t she know him well enough to answer that? Maybe she did know. Chat Noir took off without even a glance her way, let alone his usual goodbye bow. He couldn’t even look at her with heartbreak on his mind. And his expression was just a little too steady, unless she was overthinking it.

And what had gotten into Alya to ask him that question? Marinette still loved her friend, but how dare she interfere with their partnership like that. Chat’s heart was Ladybug’s to break at the time and manner of her choosing, not to be forced on them abruptly by a reporter. Damnit, Chat, for being so public with his affections.

And damnit, why had she been so public with her rejections? Some people were picking up on it and treating him like dead weight. This was her fault. Her partner was awesome, and Paris should know that. Well, everyone in Paris except for Chat.

“Here kitty kitty,” Ladybug whispered after she came up against the hotel window. She noted traces of muck against the glass. Her partner had gone inside through here.

Beep, beep.

Her earrings buzzed for the fourth time. She shook her head. Chat was gone, and she was out of time.

It was just as well. What was she going to say him? Yes, I’m going break your heart, so get over the pain, get out there, and still be ready to die at an akuma’s hand for me. What a kind partner she was. I’m going to break your heart even though you’re always there for me, even though I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever met, and even though I refuse to actually get to know you, Chat. What a friend she was. I’m going to break your heart because I’m in love with a prettyboy model I can’t even talk to. Ohh yes, she knew she did right by Chat Noir.

But she couldn’t help it. She was in love with –

“Adrien?” she let out. Just as she was about to toss out her yoyo to go, Adrien had come out through the hallway door just below the window she was sitting against. He seemed focused on something that was cupped in his left hand.

Every time Marinette saw him her heart jumped into her throat and choked up her words. But right now she was Ladybug. She had something she had failed to talk to Adrien about all week, and damnit, she had thirty seconds left of her Ladybug confidence to force herself to commit to it. She swung around the corner of the building, pushed through the first window she could find, and let out a yelp as she hit the floor in her normal school clothes.

For myself, I consider this passage to be extremely tense, and I had a lot of fun trying to capture the sense of panic and freakout happening in her head. She doesn't mention it here, but she's deeply afraid that after she breaks Chat Noir's heart, and tells him flatly that they'll never be together, he's going to quit as her partner (a thought which never once occurs to him). But for the most part, she's reflecting on events that have already happened.

There are a few things I did here to create tension.
- Right from the first paragraph I used a lot of power words.
- Yes, I kept making it worse. Nothing "worse" actually happens here, but her thoughts keep getting worse. She goes from reflecting on what just happened, to how it's all Chat's fault, to how it's her fault, to how she can't help it anyways. Each paragraph escalates on the one before it.
- She uses somewhat extreme characterizations, as if she's trying to make it worse for herself.
- I used this phrase, "Chat's heart was hers to break in the time and manner of her choosing," which sounds horrible and manipulative out of context, but actually reflects how much thought and consideration she's put into getting things right with him. I feel that double-connotation creates tension.
- I deliberately raised questions for the reader right near the end, about how she had something she wanted to talk to Adrien about. It ends with a cliffhanger - not a bad one, especially since it's mid-chapter and the next scene answers those questions. But the questions are there.
- I used gimmicks - She couldn't help it, she was in love with - "Adrien?" - to signal to the reader (again) that even their expectations in grammar are not safe.
- I posted this chapter on ArchiveOfOurOwn, and from the comments, some readers found this scene hysterical because of how obvious it should be here that Chat Noir is Adrien. "Where did Chat Noir go? Ohh, hey, there's Adrien, right where Chat Noir should be....." I was snickering when I wrote it and was really hoping readers would feel the same. I think it diffuses the tension built up to that point nicely.

Finally, the thing that drew me to this story was the situational irony. She's in love with her friend Adrien; he's in love with his partner Ladybug; if only they knew their identities, they'd realize they're in love with each other. I find that irony so much fun to play with. The story is a romance, so these two characters are constantly thinking about each other. Readers know that they're supposed to end up together. That's not a secret. So anything that comes between them, even a little - any time they're thinking about each other - creates tension because they're thinking all the wrong things.... that's all in there.

So, where does that leave me with my thoughts on tension?

"Tension" - and I don't think that word quite captures it - is any kind of a micro-reaction that you're trying to pull from your readers. People have used phrases like "make it worse," and "conflict," and "questions," and I don't think that quite covers the breadth of what those raw micro-reactions can be or what you can do with them.

I said in a previous post that I thought tension was like the Rhuhk in an anime I watch, where the Rhuhk is a raw power, which you can transform into an element like fire or wind. I think the word tension denotes fear, which is why I think it's the wrong word. Tension is a type - and a common one - of the different micro-reactions you can shoot for with readers, but I think it's hardly the only one.

I said before that I think the scene above is full of tension, and it is. She's scared for what's going on between her and her partner. But in other scenes I've written, the mood might be excitement, or sadness, or determination, or a number of other things. Is that tension? Well, not if tension is about fear. But those scenes are no less compelling, and the work you have to put into getting those micro-reactions is no less important.

 

[Heliotrope]

Readers know that they're supposed to end up together. That's not a secret. So anything that comes between them, even a little - any time they're thinking about each other - creates tension because they're thinking all the wrong things.... that's all in there.

THIS is super important to talk about. Why is that we keep going back to the same books over and over again? Or the same movies, over and over again, even though we know the ending? You would think, because we already know "what happens" we would be bored and move on to something new. But it is not the case. People have their favourite movies or books they keep re-reading, even though the "big question" has been answered.

This is why these "changes" we are talking about are so important. To me, it is not the questions that matter so much to the reader. It isn't "Are they going to stop the T-Rex"... what is interesting is HOW are they going stop the T-Rex? If the how is really cool, complicated, fresh, exciting, new, novel, etc, than that is what matters to readers. How many wrenches can you throw in, but still come to the same outcome?

One of my favourite movies is Inception. Oh man, the more complicated it gets the more I love it. The question is not "are they going to plant the idea?" because I already know they will... the question is "how?" When all the obstacles and challenges and "make it worse-s" and changes to the plans, and changes to the relationships all happen it makes me wonder how? how are they going to achieve this?

I keep watching it over and over because the how is the cool part.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

To me, it is not the questions that matter so much to the reader. It isn't "Are they going to stop the T-Rex"... what is interesting is HOW are they going stop the T-Rex?

Um... How is still a question.

 

[Steerpike]

To me, it is not the questions that matter so much to the reader. It isn't "Are they going to stop the T-Rex"... what is interesting is HOW are they going stop the T-Rex?

I think that's really it the vast majority of the time. You have instances where a writer may establish that no characters are safe or outcomes safe to presume, in which case the if is also part of the equation, but in most cases the reader can be fairly confident they will stop the T-Rex. Maybe you can make the reader forget that for a moment, in the excitement of the read, but finding out what clever strategies the characters come up with is always fun.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

This lastest bit of conversation takes me back to one of the ultimate examples of How... Columbo. In Columbo the question is never who dunnit, it’s how does Columbo figure it out?

The big sellers (most often) fulfill the reader’s/viewer’s expectations but (preferrably) in an unpredictable or at least exciting way.

 

[FifthView]

I'm reminded of a post I once made about micro-tension: Micro-Tension Strategies.

The two structures, anticipation-arrival and statement-extension, can apply to larger structures, not only sentence structure--nor only paragraph structures.

This still relates to change. But how is the change presented?