Tension is an important part of writing fiction. It adds a layer of suspence which keeps the pages turning.
"The men faced each other." Perhaps they are flexing their fingers or summing each other up. Or are they friends/enemies who haven't seen each other in a long time?
What you adorn this sentence with creates or dispells tension.
Is the tension due to uncertainty, animousity, mistrust or passion?
How tension is created can make a piece fall flat, cause the reader to toss the book across the room or settle in for an enticing read.
So wombats how do you grade yourself in creating tension?
How much is too much? Can there be too much? Do you use description or dialog in creating your tension, or a combination of the two?
Waiting with bated breath on your answers.
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Comments: 347
The men faced each other.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Did you get it or not?"
"No, I didnt get it".
Silence for a couple of heart beats, and then everything happened fast.
Okay, so I took a nap. And finished a book. And finally got out of the pj's. So it's 1 pm - what of it?
Off to work on the Manley Maid book.
OK, back later when I have time to play.
Actually, a useful topic. One of the things that made Starr's FCR entry great was the way she was able to ratchet up the tension. Setting and mood can be a big contributor to tension, where a dark and dreary day can create an undercurrent of latent angst. The example of the hands is a good one; clenched hands or a grimace convey that not all is right with the world for this character. Another approach is to have internal dialogue which can reinforce or act as a counterpoint to the actual spoken dialogue. There may also be the case of hidden information, where there is a tension about it until the surprise or twist is revealed.
Judi, just consider my Sausalito pix to be a sneak preview for wombat escapades to come. Lunch at the Spinnaker was fabulous and the view was equally remarkable.
Like Pat said, some of us work! But we ALL saw your last comment on James' thread, Simon.
As for tension, there is such a thing as too much. Haven't seen that in anything I've edited for the wombats though.
I'm off to window dress chapter two of Safe Harbor. Sparse has a place, but this is rediculous.
And then I'll tell you whose elbow was bruised.
Mike, you couldnt pay me enough to take that job. No joke. 90 days in bed could have some serious effects on the body. Am I right Jamie? You are the physiology expert here.
[It fell out of the comment box and landed here.]
I gave it a 10!
One plus would be to never miss a wombat thread! But you have to be super healthy.
Beaker - are they oatmeal raisin? molasses? chocolate chip? macadamia? white chocolate chunk? sugar? macaroons?
Simon when are you going to learn you can't out smart the sisterhood? tisk, tisk. At this rate you're going to be digging before long. Anyone seen the shovel?
And no lying.
Icy fingers traced her spine. Something. Behind her. Hot breath scorched the back of her neck. She dared not look.
as opposed to...
A shiver raced down her spine as she became aware of the presense behind her. She felt its breath agaisnt the back of her neck, but she didn't want to look at it.
They both say the same thing. Only the structure is different.
Really good topic Wendy. Let me think. And then think some more.
Sy, you'll never be able to get away with anything ever again. Of course, wombats may not believe your truths either.
I thought I was keeping my Gather email down to a manageable number. But I now have over 700 unread emails. Aaahhhh!!!!!!!!!
Conjuror goes to print monday . . . I recieved this Email today . . . F!@#@# YA!! I know everybody the congratulations are a plenty, I thank you. Playing Napalmdeath (LOUD) and now Disturbed . . . get down with the Sickness. LaUGHINg LOL . . . : )
Here comes the Conjuror.
I made that change and included the PDF. Now that your cover design has been approved, PublishAmerica will finalize the cover art and your book will go to print on Monday. Your book will be ready for order from the PublishAmerica website once it appears in the New Releases section.
Anthony P.S.
Cover Designer
PublishAmerica
Telling the truth is Sy Garte's job. I just wanna have fun.
I do like to build tension with sounds, and then coat them with color. For instance, in my world, nothing bad can ever happen in a yellow or pink room. If the room is a dark color, look out. And if it's storming, you're dead for sure. But somehow trying to build tension in the middle of a picnic on a sunny day doesn't work.
Oh wait. I did that. Different kind of tension though. OK, slinking back off to work.
Congratulations Glitter Pictures
Paul!
Paul, way cool.
I'd go nuts confined to bed. Bad enough being confined to a wheel-chair for 5 months and a cane 7. I thought I'd never recover from that.
Beth, 700? Yikes, one way to look at it is you're very popular...
Jamie did some editing for me, poor dear. And she drummed the 'strong verb' into my thick skull. As I was editing today the short sentences came into play as well.
Wombats are the best
Paul, how exciting.
Wendy, off the top of my head. You create tension with:
1) Unanswered questions.
2) Foreshadowing (the gun on the table)
3) Sentence length.
4) Asking Simon what he thinks of the mini-skirt.
Congrats, Paul.
Beaker - where was the Spew Alert for pity's sake!?
Survivor night tonight. I'll probably go.
Can someone explain to me why I did all that weeding and mulching a month ago? The weeds are back and they brought friends. And I got a manicure yesterday...yes, I need another one.
Peacock shoes
And Judi, I don't know if this stupid freaking scene is what you tried to tell me or not, but it's going out in the morning and I'm not looking at it again for a good long time. Speaking of which, off to look at it one more time before stuffing it in an envelope and off my mind.
Yeah for Jamie.. is it your birthday or somethin?
Woot for Judi's most excellent shoes.
re: the shoes. Yeah, no name. That's okay. I think the RT folks are getting sick of my name. LOL.
Sia, not popularity as much as laziness. I keep some of those emails, certain I'll go to their links or articles or whatever and just don't get to them. I do always read wombat emails, however.
And frankly, at this point, I'm ready to chuck the entire thing in that bank vault somewhere in the Bahamas and go back to being just a reader not a writer. I have two, maybe three chapters to go to finish the thing, and then I don't want to see it again for awhile.
I guess I didn't do too bad with writing today. Just checked my word count for the day. It's at 1400. I can still meet my 2000 word per day goal. I plan on getting a lot of writing done this summer. Even though I still have a little over a week of work to go before my intermission prior to teaching summer classes, for me, summer started today. If I'm not lecturing, I don't really feel like I'm working.
Perhaps we should have a "lounge area" that has links to all the anniversary threads. I have a feeling we're all going to get lost. How many threads do we have?
Pat, I was teasing about the tension, but there is an aspect of craft on tension which I'm sure you'll be getting better at over time --- it is also one of the areas I am working on.
Paul, congrats on the book. You'll be in print in no time.
Queen Lisa will post the first thread, late tonight so it will be ready in the morning. Don't worry about abandoning this thread, tomorrow is about the party.
Pat if you would like to swap places with someone, that is entirely up to you and person you wish to swap with.
Here's the line up as it now stands.
Pat S. 2
Jamie 3
Simon 4
Beth 6
Dale 7
Judi 8
Jill 9
-------------
So if we do 75 comments a thread, everyone should get a chance. Pat perhaps you would like to switch with Jill? That way the fun can continue without restiction on your thread.. lol
Simon, John said that to create tension one should ask for your opinion on the miniskirt. I was following directions.
OK, after all that I need some dinner. And maybe a manhatten. And I'm sending myself flowers first thing in the morning, after I throw up and wonder what on earth I was thinking in the first place. I didn't sweat the last entry, but somehow this one I am. That's tension.
As I was making my last post it came to my attention, by an odd sound, that it was pouring pea-sized hail. I've posted pics to my page if you'd like to see.
The sun is out and the hail is melting now. Off to check on dinner.
Pat 2
Jamie 3
Sia 4
Simon 5
Beth 6
Dale 7
Judi 8
Jill 9
shuffles off in disgrace.
Jamie, GREAT example on the two versions of tension.
OMG! What if we're hit by a mailbox burglar tonight?
Yeah, I'd better go find dinner. Simon, what's your son perfoming? All of you have such talented offspring.
Tomorrow looks like a blast and my brain should be untwisted at that point. Yeah!
JUDI! They could have at least said your name, darn it. Pffft!
Now I will go back and read.
I sent a group email to the Wombats from the home page. I don't think we missed anyone, but on the off chance we did, better safe than sorry.
I'm buggin out for a while. I've been editing all day and need to get away from my desk. Seriously my butt's going numb.