Micro-Tension Strategies

[FifthView]

Recent and older discussions related to creating or increasing tension have refocused my attention onto the subject of micro-tension.

In part, I see micro-tension as an example of the way tension describes an interaction between narrative and reader and not as a description of what the characters are feeling. The tension characters feel might affect a reader's experience of tension, but putting characters into high-stress, tension-filled situations, and making them experience tension, is not the only method for creating tension. In fact, it's merely one of many ways to create tension.

Using micro-tension is a peculiar sort of strategy for increasing tension because it operates at a....micro level. The paragraph level. The sentence level. The phrase level. The word level. Here's Donald Maass's description of the effect of micro-tension:

Holding readers' attention every word of the way is not a function of the type of novel, or a good premise, tight writing, quick pace, showing not telling, or any of the other frequently taught principles of storytelling. Keeping readers constantly in your grip comes from the steady application of something else altogether.

Micro-tension.

Micro-tension is the moment-by-moment tension that keeps the reader in a constant state of suspense over what will happen, not in the story but in the next few seconds. It is not a function of plot. This type of tension does not come from high stakes or the circumstances of a scene. Action does not generate it. Dialogue does not produce it automatically. Exposition — the interior monologue of the point-of-view character — does not necessarily raise its level. When you don't have micro-tension, you are slowly losing your reader. When you do have micro-tension, you can do anything.

[The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great, Donald Maass.]​

This idea of keeping readers in a constant state of suspense seems key to the whole idea of micro-tension (and extremely important to the idea of tension in general, I'd think), and I suspect there are various ways of doing this at the micro level.

I'm actually rather new to this term, "micro-tension." But during years of studying poetry, I've had occasion to contemplate the way lines of verse "turn" a phrase or idea in unexpected ways, leading a reader to delight in the unexpected revelation of meaning, associations, and so forth. But I also encountered a new way to look at phrasing in general, as useful in writing prose as in writing poetry: Derek Attridge's phrasal scansion.

One chapter of his book Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction is devoted to this idea of scanning phrases, and I think his approach can be useful for understanding how micro-tension works, at least from one direction.

Essentially, he divides phrasing into two general sets:

• Anticipation (ANT) - Arrival (ARR)
• Statement (STA) - Extension (EXT)

Broadly, these describe not only phrasing but also how we experience prose when we are reading.

At the phrasing level, a phrase of anticipation leads a reader to...anticipate (or try to anticipate) what is coming and then may (or may not) arrive at the answer to that anticipation:

When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.

[First line of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.]​

• When I think of my wife [ANT]
• I always think of her head [ARR]

In a statement-extension arrangement, something is stated and then it is extended, re-stated or modified. This typically leads to a different experience in our reading. Here's a longer section from the opening to Gone Girl:

And what’s inside it. I think of that too: her mind. Her brain, all those coils, and her thoughts shuttling through those coils like fast, frantic centipedes.​

• And what's inside it.[STA]
• I think of that too: her mind.[EXT]
• Her brain, all those coils, [EXT]
• her thoughts shuttling through those coils [EXT]
• like fast, frantic centipedes [EXT]

Content is key in either approach. To make what comes next intriguing and/or surprising. I always think of my wife's head...when I see pumpkins. Huh?

Attridge's way of looking at phrasing also may describe larger structures than phrases. For instance, that first line? When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. Huh? This sentence as a whole acts like an ANT phrase. The next sentence arrives at an answer: The shape of it, to begin with.

Rhythms and patterns can help to draw attention and keep it. ANT-ANT-ANT-ARR would delay arrival at an answer after a lengthened anticipation. Setting up multiple EXT after a STA might lead a reader to wonder just how the statement will be extended yet again. (Although again, content is key; it's not just the pattern itself.)

 

[skip.knox]

I get that and appreciate it. For me it would be impossible to keep up for a hundred thousand words. But now that you've brought it to my attention, I very much can see attending to this detail for opening and closing lines of scenes, for turning points, or other places where I really want to be sure I have my reader's attention.

 

[Caged Maiden]

I've been waving the Donald Maass flag for months. I wish I could just absorb every word he said, weigh them, and borg all the best tips over the course of an evening.

This tension thing is certainly an advanced strategic application, and while I'm just scratching the surface, I've gotten a taste for it and am hungry for more.

I just spent the last week watching a whodunit called Ellery Queen Mysteries. It was filmed in the 70s and follows a mystery writer from the 40s and his inspector father, as they tackle some odd little New York murders. One thing I can say about it is that acting aside, it's a wonderfully simple story. Each episode follows the same generic path, from discovering a murder, examining clues, formulating theories, and then a twist at the end that finally "solves" the case. 24 episodes...all following the exact same template.

Now...this week, as I crack open my rewrite that sits at 36k words...I yearn for the simplicity of a classic whodunit. My story began with a character and a situation. Then, I opened up a bigger question about her situation, introducing some new challenges. Last chapter, I tried to "close the door" on one problem, but blew it wide open in this 4th chapter, when her magic (an unknown both for character and reader) goes horribly awry. And I feel completely stuck. I even updated the nano cabin, saying, "I'm stuck on chapter four until I can figure out some sort of tension." And I'm sticking by that diagnosis. I had tension, questions that needed answering, but I'm not quite ready to spill the beans. So, I need new tension.

While my coming up with a source of macro-tension is not the subject of your post, I think that the two kinds of tension go hand in hand, in a big way. For example, micro-tension isn't about "plot" like I'm trying to come up with, but rather about the small ways a story is bigger than a single goal. I got to thinking about this as I was watching the murder cases completely devoid of anything but a singular goal...to find the killer.

In fact, I'm so tired of coming up with tension, micro or otherwise, that I considered what a welcome reprieve it might be to just write whodunits for a few weeks. Shift focus away from character traits and inner thoughts, and simply deal with facts and interpretation, like the steady voice of Watson in my ear, explaining my own stupidity as clues that went over my head revealed deep meaning. I can surely come up with a few mysteries and clues, and compile them into short stories. I don't even care if they turn out absolutely terrible. Anything to give my brain a bit of a break from what I've been working on--creating reasons for characters to open their mouths, and translating simple occurrences into complex feelings. it's exhausting, trying to be interesting.

The thing about micro-tension is that it's usually small. So small it's almost unnoticeable in many cases. A little hint here, a revelation about character there. And entertaining all the way. That's very different from what we think of as "plot" which is usually less finessed and more heavy-handed. That all contributes to the difficulty in trying to "create" it I find it sort of happens, in most cases, and where it's lacking...my stories become utilitarian and dull.

Thanks for bringing this up!

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Now, of course, the funny part is that in Maass's book he goes from that quote into an example of microtension that I found myself skimming, LOL. I'm a tough audience I guess.

I always find myself licking a block of salt with Maass's works, I like his books, but, they taste better seasoned.

 

[FifthView]

I get that and appreciate it. For me it would be impossible to keep up for a hundred thousand words. But now that you've brought it to my attention, I very much can see attending to this detail for opening and closing lines of scenes, for turning points, or other places where I really want to be sure I have my reader's attention.

Attridge's primary focus was on poetry, so having meaning condensed into much fewer words would be simpler than trying for 100K charged words of heightened language and tight or complicated structure!

But he was also applying terms to things that already happen in normally spoken and written language. We already do it. I think that simply being aware of this can help us develop micro-tension, or good habits, and as Caged Maiden said, micro-tension can be so subtle as to not always draw attention to itself. (There are different levels of micro-tension.)

I think that a negative case can be avoided. Occasionally when I read some items posted in the showcase, I'll notice that 2 or 3 paragraphs of description will be filled with repetitive sentence structures, usually of the STA-EXT variety, and it can feel a little tedious for me personally. I think that using variety, plus sentences of varying length, can subtly help with creating micro-tension, simply because a reader won't know what to expect from sentence to sentence to sentence or in the phrasing.

 

[FifthView]

The thing about micro-tension is that it's usually small. So small it's almost unnoticeable in many cases. A little hint here, a revelation about character there. And entertaining all the way. That's very different from what we think of as "plot" which is usually less finessed and more heavy-handed. That all contributes to the difficulty in trying to "create" it I find it sort of happens, in most cases, and where it's lacking...my stories become utilitarian and dull.

Thanks for bringing this up!

I am interested in different ways of looking at the creation and use of micro-tension.

I suspect that we sometimes do it without realizing, "Hey, I'm using micro-tension here!" For instance, with respect to the idea of using different phrasal patterning, this may be something that comes naturally as we develop our individual voices. I've been thinking that at least some of the differences in author voice might be a result of different habits of phrasing–

For instance (ANT)
with respect to the idea of using different phrasal patterning (ANT)
this may be something that comes naturally as we develop our individual voices. (ARR)

–hah. I find that in casual prose like comments here, I have a tendency to use introductory phrases like "Indeed" or "For instance" just to break up the flow, incite a little anticipation maybe. That sentence above followed a STA-EXT sentence:

I suspect that we sometimes do it (STA)
without realizing, "Hey, I'm using micro-tension here!" (EXT)

Hmmm. This is probably a simplistic way of looking at this; it's just something that hovers around in my mind when I consider my own habits.

 

[Heliotrope]

When I think of micro-tension, I think of it exactly as you described, FV. And unlike Skip, I do think it is possible to carry it on through the majority of 120,000 words.


For me, I think of micro-tension as raising questions, like any tension, but you are raising line by line questions instead of large over arching questions.... almost tying us back to the 'on the nose' narrative discussion you and I had earlier.

Example of minimal micro-tension:

Noah warmed himself beside a fire. Beyond the window sill fat droplets pellted the thin glass, threatening to seep through the cracks in the roof and freeze him to death. Noah was too sad to care. His tears dripped from his chin like the rain outside, warm only for an instant before freezing into his shaggy beard.

(I made it super cliche to prove a point and exaggerate the 'on-the-nose-ness'). Note how the above passage does not leave anything to the reader? There is no work to be done. It is all laid out in front of the reader. There are no questions raised, except maybe "Why is he there? What is he sad about?

Micro-Tension would be done like this.

Frozen rain flooded the narrow valley, churning the river into a torrent of foam and ice, yet Noah felt no cold. Question raised... why? Why did he feel no cold? Micro-tension created... must read on to find answer to my question.

Huddled beside a makeshift fire in a makeshift hut Noah felt nothing at all. (Old question answered: He is in a hut, that is why he doesn't feel the cold. New Question raised... But why doesn't he feel anything at all? Would he be cold? Lonely? Afraid? What is he doing there?)

The fire blured before him, his eyes the only part left of him that would betray his heart. He let the tears fall. Only hot for a moment they would soon drip into his mangy beard and freeze. Like everything else. - More questions raised. More work for the reader.

Micro-tension.

 

[Heliotrope]

I'll use examples from actual books lol:

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

Snowman wakes before dawn. He lies unmoving, listening to the tide coming in, wave after wave sloshing over the various barricades, wish-wash, wish-wash, the rhythm of a heartbeat. He would so like to believe he is still asleep.

Note how every sentence raises a question. Why is his name Snowman? Why does he wake so early? Why is he at the beach? Is he sleeping outside? Why does he wish he was still sleeping?

On the eastern horizon there's a greyish haze, lit now with a rosy, deadly glow. Strange how that colour still seems tender. The offshore towers stand out in dark silhouette against it, rising improbably out of the pink and pale blue of the lagoon.

How can a glow be deadly? If the colour used to be tender, but isn't now, then what happened? What changed? How are the towers rising improbably?

Tripwire - Lee Child

Hook Hobie owed the whole of his life to a secret nearly thirty years old. His liberty, his status, his money, everything. And like any cautious guy in his particular situation, he was ready to do what was necessary to protect his secret. Because had a lot to lose. The whole of his life.

Again, every sentence carries a question. A hook almost. How can a guy owe his whole life to a secret that old? What is the secret? Did he do something? Does he know something? What exactly is his particular situation? How did he get there? What kind of secret could destroy his whole life?

Jack Reacher saw the guy step through the door. Actually, there was no door. The guy just stepped in through the part of the front wall that wasn't there. The bar opened straight out onto the sidewalk.

Who is this guy? Why is Jack watching him? Wait, there is no door? What? Where is he? Ohhhh, a bar, ok...

 

[FifthView]

For me, I think of micro-tension as raising questions, like any tension, but you are raising line by line questions instead of large over arching questions.... almost tying us back to the 'on the nose' narrative discussion you and I had earlier.

That 'on the nose' discussion does seem to tie in to this.

I am wondering if there are other ways of creating micro-tension, also.

For instance, simply having a side character companion with a very different outlook or habit of observation might help? I mean a character that's always making the main POV character stop and re-think things relevant to the story, the world, other characters. Little differences in personality could come out during casual dialogue, maybe during action scenes as side characters do unexpected things.

Edit:

I confess to being intrigued by this comment Caged Maiden left:

A little hint here, a revelation about character there.

Perhaps this also relates to that 'on the nose' discussion in one way. I've been thinking that, with characterization, rather than lay all the cards on the table at once, the drip-drip-drip of information might help in creating micro-tension. Especially when considering non-POV characters. (Not sure how much you'd want to withhold about main POV characters....) And this drip-drip-drip approach might hold for certain aspects of the world that will later prove important to the plot.

 

[Heliotrope]

Yes on the drip drip drip for sure. There is a careful balance, though. I find if the information is withheld too much the tension wanes, as I'm not clear on what exactly is going on, but if too much information is told then the tension also wanes as it is all laid out in front of me and it is boring.

About characters, yes, I think of micro-tension for sure when I think about character creation. I gave an example earlier in another post about comedic characters and how they often have one character flaw that is exaggerated, like Monica from Friends and her obsession with cleanliness. In a previous post I showed how Monica might attempt eating at a restaurant... She checks it out on trip advisor first, she doesn't like the table offered first and asks for another one, she wipes everything down with hand sanitizer before sitting down, she asks where every ingredient on the menu came from, she pretends to go to the bathroom so she can check out the kitchen, she gives the chef advice on how to organize his spice shelf...

But what if she was having this meal with Joey? Joey is obsessed eating and with sex, so how could this meal play out?

Joey just wants to eat at his favorite place because the waitresses are hot and they have good wings, but Monica checks it on Trip advisor and it gets terrible reviews so she picks another place across town.

Now Joey is starving and just wants to eat anything. They get inside the restaurant and the hostess is a beautiful girl and Joey tries to impress her, but Monica embarrasses him when she refuses every table the girl takes them to and then wipes down the final table with hand sanitizer. The hostess is now frustrated with Monica and ignores Joey completely.

The hostess tries to explain the special of the day and Joey is so hungry he wants to order anything, but Monica insists on asking about every ingredient in every dish and where it came from and if it is organic or not. Furthur frustrating Joey and the hostess.

Finally, just as they are about to order Monica pretends she has to go to the bathroom, but really she wants to make sure the kitchen is sanitary. She leaves Joey alone, foodless, while she sneaks into the kitchen and tries to give the chef tips on organizing his spice rack. Meanwhile, Joey has finally managed to get the hostess to give him her number.

Irate with Monica, the Chef calls security to take her out of the restaurant. As she is pulled from the restaurant by security, Monica calls to Joey to meet her outside... thwarting his chance at the hostess' phone number.

So yes, I think that side characters with other perspectives and other goals can help with micro-tension.