If you keep up with my drivel, you’ll know I recently wrote an article entitled Six Dastardly Ways to Pile On Conflict. As I said then, conflict is the fuel of fiction. Tension is not quite the same thing, though they are connected. For my purposes conflict tends to be external confrontation, whereas tension is often a byproduct of conflict, and usually resides within the character—or the reader.
Conflict varies in a multitude of ways. Tension has even more variations. But we’ll keep this simple. Conflict and tension on the page work hand-in-hand for the Holy Grail: tension in your reader. Tension is created in your reader when s/he is caught up in your story and doesn’t know what is going to happen next. Make your reader twist and turn and s/he won’t be able to put your book down!
To borrow Lisa Cron’s definition: A story is about how someone grapples with a problem they can’t avoid, and how they change in the process. That someone is your protagonist. We’ll call her Prot. Prot is the one your reader will identify and bond with, so Prot is the one we will treat dastardly.
Skewer them on the horns of a dilemma. Give Prot two bad choices and no way out. Don’t let them off the hook with, “I had no choice.” Make Prot choose, and make the consequences of that choice dire both personally and to Prot’s story goals.
And if you do it once, you can do it again. You can build a whole novel off escalating decisions, each more dangerous and morally imperative, each with greater consequences. It’s a shrewd way of “Raising the Stakes.”
Shoot the Messenger. Take one of Prot’s favorite or most crucial helpers out of the picture. Prot’s mentor, best friend, loved one. Kill them. Give them COVID. Drive them off a cliff. Have a Great White tear them in half. Leave Prot on her own, at a crucial point in your story when she needs help the most. Do it right and you can upend Prot’s emotions, as well as set back her story goal. But don’t let Prot give up or go into a shell. After all, major setbacks lead to major character growth.
Get Her Hopes Up—Then Crush Them. Before Prot is hit with disaster, build up her excitement. If Prot’s husband is having an affair, get her hopes up before she finds out. Let her discover some Viagra in his luggage. “Oh, we’re going to have fun this weekend,” she may think. Allow time for her to fantasize, to revel with anticipation. Then BAM! Smack her with the discovery of the other woman.
Lurk. Saddle Prot with an unhealthy obsession, character flaw, or deformity, one she despises but can’t avoid. Slap her in the face with it. Sabotage her every step with her own flaw. Make it derail her plans and goals despite her best intentions. Like the werewolf who hates what he becomes during a full moon, Prot fighting to overcome her own flaws is something readers can appreciate, identify with, and worry about.
Do the Wrong Thing. Everybody’s human, including Prot. Have her make a mistake that will cost her dearly. Create a disaster over her own misunderstanding. Drive her friends, lovers, or business partners away because she blows up over a perceived, not-necessarily-real slight. Bungle a crucial decision over bad information or merely her error in judgment. Setting Prot back with her own blunder adds to conflict, increases tension, and deepens your story.
Go Over the Line. Prot is the “hero” is your story, right? What if she deliberately does something unheroic? Think of Gus McRae in LONESOME DOVE. A likeable protagonist if there ever was one. But Gus broke a bartender’s nose, just because the bartender didn’t give him the respect he thought he deserved. That was definitely unheroic, and over the line. Yet it made him a more intriguing character.
If Prot does something overly harsh, if she goes over the line of bad behavior, your reader may not like it, but they will chew on it and wonder what will happen next.
Kneecap ’Em. Just as Prot reaches for success, for her final goal in your story, take her down at the knees. Blindside her with something totally unexpected that sends her back to square one, or even before. Find a hidden truth, discover a betrayal, reveal a secret antagonist, or that the opposition is not who she thought. Or all at the same time.
