Tension Management: How to Keep Your Story Going

"There is no worse robber than a bad book." ~Italian Proverb

I'm sure every one of us has read stories that never caught our attention -- they were dull. Boring. Not enough action. Not enough thrills. Sadly, I've read a bunch of these, and I feel like I wasted my time.

That's every author's worst nightmare --- that their book would be hated,that people would think that they wasted their life while reading it, that everyone would think it was a joke.

This post is to tell you how to keep your reader's attention the entire way. Now, I'm no professional. You'll probably have your own ways to do this, and that's fine with me. I'm pretty much just posting this for my own peace of mind, so I can get this out of my brain to make room for other stuff. :)

#1 --- Begin with a bang.

:) Start with an interesting prologue featuring your villain. (That's what I did). Or start in the middle of a fight scene. Have an opening sentence that catches people's eye. I know several people who open a book, look at the first sentence, and if it isn't to their liking, they close the book, never to open it again. (How awful!) Start with sentences like:

Logan clutched the hilt of his sword, looking out into the shadowy darkness. 
Something was wrong --- Mason could feel it.
Madeline woke up to a masked figure standing over her, an axe in his hand,his eyes cruel and cold.
Lauryn paced the room, her robe flashing behind her, waiting impatiently for the guest who seemingly would never come.

You've got to get your readers thinking. Even if they close the book after reading the first sentence, you have to design the first sentence so they can't stop thinking about it after they leave the library or the bookstore. What happens to Madeline? Why is Logan on his guard? Who is Lauryn so anxiously waiting for? What makes Mason feel that way? Who are these characters, anyway?

After that initial few sentences, you can drop the thrill level a notch. Of course, you can't drop it all the way, but you have to drop it some, or your characters can't have deep conversations and your reader can't really get to know them.

#2 --- Force yourself to cut off chapters.

This is hard for me. I have my chapters sketched out, so I know when they are going to end. I don't like to end them "ahead of schedule" --- which for me, would be before I hit the 17 or 18 page mark. This is a problem, because all my chapters were boring. I would end them at peaceful moments. Not good.

You have to end the chapters at a cliffhanger moment. Notice I said Chapters and not Book. I hate when people end books like that. You have to have some of a cliffhanger, or else your readers won't want to read your next book, but don't overdo it. Don't drive your readers insane. Keep a good balance.

Even if you only wrote five pages in your chapter, even if you haven't reached a crucial part yet, and even if you feel like you are ending too many chapters way too early, do it anyway. Your readers would much rather read a lot of small, thrilling chapters than a small amount of long, drawn out ones. I know from experience. If you've ever read the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, you know what I mean.

Here are some scenes that are good for cliffhanger chapter endings:

In the middle of a fight scene: The sword flew out of his hand, and his opponent, wasting no time, thrust his dagger forward, the jagged blade aimed for David's heart.
After a shocking detail has been revealed: Darth Vader pointed his lightsaber forward. "Luke," he said ominously, "I am your father."
After a sudden death (or a death in general): "You have loved me, after all this time?" "Always ..." his hand slipped from Lily's as it fell to the ground and the stars reflected in his lifeless eyes.
In the middle of a death threat: Adriana's nostrils flared and her haughty eyebrows rose. "Come with me now," she said, grabbing Natalie by the throat, "or she will die."

You don't always have to have cliffhanger endings, but it's good and healthy to have a lot. :)

#3 --- Write on the go.

This is my little term for winging it when you write. :) Just sketch out the huge things that will happen (Emily gets kidnapped by the villain at this point, Jacob gets killed at this point, Marcie arrives at the fairy village at this point) and leave the little things to whatever pops in your head (how about they get attacked by a troll while in the elf kingdom? Hmm. Sounds good. Let me give it a try. :) )

This helps you have tense moments because, just a few minutes ago, you didn't know or expect that you would write that! Do the unexpected, the unpredictable, even for you. If you know every little thing that's going to happen in advance, the story will be dry. I've compared older stories of mine to my current one and believe me, this trick works wonders.

If your brain doesn't work like mine, then probably this won't be very good for you If you like order and organization, then this probably won't work, and good luck. :) The only problem is that it makes the editing process a teensy bit harder --- if the scene is wildly off color, it takes some fixing to get it to work with the rest of the novel.

#4 --- Make a Personality List.

This is because I forget things so easily. :) Sometimes, I'll get so caught up in writing "on the go" that I forget base things, like my main character's flaws and fears. This is a huge problem because flaws especially are something the character is supposed to struggle with through the entire novel! If I forget them, that means not writing about them, which isn't good.

Here's a sample Personality List. You can copy mine, make your own, or just don't do it at all, I really don't care. :)

Kaitlyn Deborah Sullivan

Born January 1, 2001

Flaws: She's full of herself, struggles with loneliness

Loves: Puppies, flowers, coffee

Hates: the color purple, when people chew with their mouths open

Greatest Desire: To please everyone

Greatest Fear: That she will disappoint someone

Greatest phobia (there's a difference between fear and phobia): that she will be eaten by a zombie during the zombie apocalypse

Just make a list of huge things about a character that you need to remember. Post it near where you write - on the wall next to your computer, on the bulletin board next to your bed, etc.

#5 --- Get a visual.

It's hard (at least for me) to describe something that I can't see. So, I draw (or get someone else to do it, I'm not that good at drawing) what I want to say - like, in my story, Dakota goes to the Haven. I'm constantly describing it. So, one day, I sat down with pencils and markers and drew it out, and pasted it on my bulletin board. It's so helpful to be able to see what you're describing. Pinterest, especially, is sooo helpful with this. I can't even begin to say how awesome it is to just type "centaur" or "elf princess" in the search box and see a perfect picture of your character come up. Amazing. 

Another thing --- don't say what happened. Describe what happened. I don't know how to explain it without an example, so here goes.

Compare the two segments. The first is saying, second is describing. Describing is good, saying is bad. :)

Jake was very angry as he screamed in irritation. He marched over to his friends because they were the ones who made him this way and he began to yell at them. Their faces turned red and they began to yell back.

Jake stormed over to his friends, his nostrils flared. "You lied to me!" he screamed, his fists clenched together. "You told me I was a unicorn!" His friends' faces turned bright pink. "We did not lie!" one of them yelled, taking a step forward, his eyes fiery. "It's true!"

This quote -- I don't know who said it --- explains it much better than I did:

That's a wrap. :)