Tuesday's Writer's Tip More on Creating Tension #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #writing #tip #tension

 Tension is essential to turn what might be an incident into a story. Tension pulls readers into the story. One way to increase the tension in a story is to show an opposing fact or person. When one character goes against another, the resulting tension adds to the story and also pulls readers. The thought becomes who will win, character A or character B.

 Increasing the opposition to a character's desire adds more tension to the story. Look at the basci plot to the story. In the beginning, we have the set up for the story. Girl meets boy. detective meets criminal, earthling meets alien. This follows in most king of stories. Then comes the middle. This is where the tension should built by showing the effects of opposition. Then comes the end where the tensions are resolved and the ending is satisfactory,

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Tuesday's Writer's Tip Tension and Plot #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #writing #tension #plot

There are stories that tell a tale but without tension, they can fall flat. Tension is the first thing to turn a story into a plotted tale. Without tension what youhave is flat. Boy meets girl. Boy asks girl to marry him. Girl says yes or no. The story ends there. But put in a simple but of tension and the story takes shape. Perhaps she says yew but her father or guardian is absolutely against the marriage. This bit of tension adds and makes a plotted story. If she says no, immediately the reader asks why. What does he do then. He needs to find a way to persuade her to marry him. That means change and change makes the story. 

Tension can add spice to any story. This captures the readers tension. What I've talked about here is a simple addition to the story bringing questiosn that must be answered. Adding an element of tension to any simple story and you are beginning to develop a plot or a road map to the end. Other ways to add tension to story will be looked at later. 

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Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on tension in romance #MFRWauthor

Karen's Weisner's From First Draft to Finished Novel has a lot of good tips. This is the finish of her points in creating romantic tension, an important part of a romance novel.

Humor can play a good part. This is helpful when the tension builds to a point where there needs to be a release. When tension builds to a high point without some kind of release the story could plunge to the depths and cause the reader to put the book aside. So a bit of laughter could provide the release and perhaps a moment of magic.

There are two kinds of romantic tension. There is the physical and the emotional. To avoid one or lean to heavy on one kind leaves the romance lacking. So look at both sides of the attraction and show what's happening on a physical level but also what the viewpoint character in a scene is feeling.

Don't write love scenes just to put more words on a page. There are some characters who seem to need many love scenes but there are others books when you want to scream, Not another one. if the love scene can come out without changing the story, you may not need it but need to find other words to bring your story to a good conclusion.

Less can be more. I've written love scenes that take pages and they work. I've also written very short ones that  fit the story. So think about shortening these scenes,

Wednesday's Writer's Tips from From First Draft To Finished Novel - Karen Wiesner #MFRWauthor

Last week we looked at three ways to bring sexual tension into stories. Today we'll look at at least three more.

4.Start the tension at once. From their first meeting, no matter what the sub-genre you're dealing with. This doesn't have to be too up front but you need to show the interest.  This is called setting the stage for the future love scene whether it takes place in the open or behind closed doors, the reader needs to believe these people really want each other and have from the start. By seting the attraction up early you avoid those awkward moments. You don't make the reader think this scene was inserted for no reason at all.

Use your characters senses of sight in particular here. Other senses can also be used. The rasp of a voice, the allure of a perfume. Just show the attraction.

5. Now we come to exaggerated prose. This can destroy the mood, particularly when words are used grandly and bring not sighs of excitement from the reader but giggles. I've read these kind of things in books and I can't help grinning. I'm sure you have too. It's sometimes easy to get caught in using gaudy language to describe something that is nearly undescrible. So if you've found yourself sprinkling these sort of words into your love scenes, back up a bit and tone down the words.

Let the characters try to describe what they're feeling and maybe all they can do is stumble around thinking wow and not being able to describe.

6.  Set the scene. Now this can be easy or hard. Remember the senses. Think of touches, aromas, visions, spoken words or sighs. Use the senses to set the scene for yourself and the reader.  Let yourself as the writer enter the scene and be the characters.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip based on From First Draft to Finished Novel #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLove

Karen Wiesner is a friend, a good writer and gives great advide. I often use one of her reference books as a base for going off on my own. Adding my own take on this. In her book cited above she has some good words on creating sexual tension when writing romance novels. I'll probably use this segment for several Wednesdays.

1, Let your characters decide the level of intimacy.  Of course, as the writer you've created these characters and you're really in control but you need to remember when writing the story that your characters are in charge, so to speak. My experience with this has been interesting. One character I created really liked being physically intimate with the man in her life. He felt the same. Neither of them wanted any emotional baggage between them. Was this a problem? Sometimes. In another story, the heroine stated there would be nothing beyond kisses and a bit of petting in her story. Though I tried for more, I finally realized what I was aiming for didn't fit the character.

The moral of this is while you let your characters choose, as the writer you need to know your characters and listen to them.

2. Make the love scenes realistic. I usually have no problem with this but can err on the side of realism. Too much reality isn't good for fiction. If your characters aren't real, your love scenes won't be either.

Know your characters.

3. Use exaggerated awareness. I read almost as much as I write though not always in the romance field. I've read romance books where hero and heroine have no awareness of each other in more than a wooden way. Think of how they react to a touch, to a smile, to a word. This goes for hero and heroine though not in the same scene by bouncing from head to head. Your hero can notice things about what the heroine does to him physically and emotionally while showing the scene from his point of view. The same goes for the heroine, Sticking with one can heighten the suspense and rev up the anticipation while showing your reader just how these people are becoming aware of each other.

Watch your characters.

More next time.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Tension and Suspense + Free book #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLove

Horu's Chosen (An Alternate Egypt Book 2) is free until February 14th

Still reading and gleaning things from From First Draft To Finished Novel by Karen Wiesner.

Tension and suspense are needed to keep the reader turning the pages. We've all read books when you say to yourself "Just one more page." The writer has caught you up in the tension and suspense of the story. You want to know what happens next. Without these elements, the reader will toss the books aside.

Is there a difference between the two elements. It's a matter of degree. Tension makes the characters worry and the reader anxious about what will come next. Some stories have a lot of tension and little suspense. The decisions the characters make aren't earth-shattering. They may not be the right decisions but their choice brings tension to the story.

Now we come to suspense. This brings major worry for the characters and to the reader. They really worry about what is going to happen. Will the character's decision bring them into danger?

Both tension and suspense need to be built from the first page until the conclusion and the story ends. They need to be brought to a conclusion that allows the reader and the characters to be satisfied.

Though both need to be present at all times there is also a need for a break for the reader and the characters. Give them time to breathe. Give them time to relax. Remove them from the growing tension or suspense to experience something that eases them and the reader. This is particularly true with suspense. If the characters are kept on edge every moment of their story. The reader will become breathless and perhaps decide they can's read another world.

I've read books where the suspense almost makes me ill and I usually put the books aside. I've also read, especially romances, where the tension drags on forever. I stop reading. There are other books i've tried to read that lack either element. I stop reading.

Tuesday's Inspiration ala Joyce Carol Oates

When I read this old essay about creating tension Joyce Carol Oates was speaking of the short story rather than a novel but I also realized what she said also applies to the longer form of fiction. Tension in a novel builds to a peak and then seems to dissipate. Seems is the key word. Tension is buried only to re-surface again.

From this essay, two facts rose that can help tension build no matter what length of story the writer creates. There is a rhythmic building of tension. I always think of this "Step by step." And what does this mean. To quote Joyce Carol Oates, "the building of tension that lasts long enough to be convincing but short enough to be interesting." There is a point where the tension must ease. In a short story this means the ending but in a novel this means a rest until the time comes to push the tension a step higher,

The second quote. "Remember that tension created for it's own sake is cheap; no one will read your story more than once." Just what does this mean. I thought for a long time and realized there are stories one only reads once but there are stories some readers will re-read again and again. Think of some of your favorites and study them. Find why the building of tension brings you back to the story and try to infuse that into your work,

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Patterns in Action

Action doesn't mean just fights and car chases and other scenes with physical action being the focus. Action is what moves the story forward. Action isn't just a series of scenes that are connected. When I first began writing I thought I knew what I was doing. After many wonderful rejections where the editors kindly wrote about one thing I was doing wrong. I remember one that I read. "If you start with a bomb or a riot where the hero and heroine are threatened with death, what are you going to write next that pulls the reader along." This hit me that action is a progression. No matter what kind of story you're writing each action in the story must lead to the next one and must increase the stakes for the characters.

Action builds tension and gains momentum in a story. This requires pacing. A fellow writer once read my sort of 'Medical suspense" Obsessions and remarked on a look we both belonged to. "Janet is a master at pacing." This totally surprised me because I wasn't sure what he meant. I did a whole lot of study about what pacing meant. This story starts with the unnamed villain watching the hospital parking lot and failing to achieve his goal. Not much later, the heroine discovers the body of a nat so nice fellow worker in the "orthopedic" storage room. This is the triggering situation and the deaths begin. Each one comes closer to the heroine and so the tension builds. Especially when the heroine receives gifts left my an unnamed admirer. These gifts are the typical ones one mught see in a courtship. This added another layer of tension, yet these scenes weren't physically active.

So as you write each scene think about what the scene contributes to the building finale of the story. If a scene doesn't really add to the tension, take it out or change it until you can feel the tentsion rising. Sort of like Slowly he walked and so forth. Build a pattern and make sure each scene advances not only the story but also the tension. Don't give away too much too soon and don't delay too long. Actions show the pattern of cause and effect.

About genres and subgenres -- Romantic Suspense

I read a lot and I read in a variety of genres so I've decided to look at the genres and see what I like and don't like in the books I've read. Romance will be my first and Romantic Suspense is the first subgenre, probably because I don't write in this area. I've done one suspense book, Obsessions, but that's a medical suspense which is a different sort of thing.
Romantic Suspense has two focuses, one is the romance and the other is the suspense. Combining them can be tricky and falling short can happen easily. I'm not going to mention specific books because this isn't a review site. I'm just going to look at what I like in these books and how they fall flat for me.

What I like about Romantic Suspense are villains who are powerful and really evil. I want to see the hero and heroine face someone who is worthy of the fight to the finish. I love to see the sexual tension develop between the hero and heroine as they face adversity. There are a number of kinds of romantic suspense. There can be as the enemy spies both foreign and industrial, criminals of all kinds. There can be bad guys from the past that come to haunt a hero or heroine's present. The ones I enjoy the most are those with tension that carries through the book that keep the pages turning. This is a real talent.

Now on to the things that bother me a lot. The first is figuring who the villain is if this is being kept a secret. I remember reading one romantic suspense and I knew who the bad guy was by page three. Needless to say I didn't finish the book. A second is when the heroine or the hero is "too stupid to live." I've read so many of these where the heroine or hero goes into a situation tha no reasonable person would entertain. A third is when the love scene occurs at a time when no reasonable person would make love. Another is erratic writing. I remember reading one where the suspense elements were riveting and drew me forward, only to come on to a hero/heroine scene with back and forth dialogue that was supposed to be amusing but broke the tone of the book.

Plots are the backbone of good romantic suspense. There are two kind of plots here that drive me to toss the book away. One is the simplistic plot where the suspense is only a vehicle for the romance. The suspense part could be solved too quickly and the romance becomes the major part of the book. The other is a plot so convoluted that the reader has no chance of every decipering it. The convoluted plot often forces the hero, heroine or both to act in ways that make them appear to be fools.