Exploring Tension in a Story

Today I started to read a book I was eagerly awaiting. After about 5 pages I had to go out. Driving to my appointment I could hear a dialogue going on in my head about how I wanted the story to go, the feelings arising because it did not seem to be going that way. As well as the internal motivation around that. For my friends who have read some of my blogs you might remember me discussing the challenge I have been having around creating an antagonist. Inner and outer. This dialogue has helped reveal some of underlying reasons for this challenge. Thanks JK for creating the opportunity for my exploration.

"Are you going on about that again?"

"What do you mean, going on?"

"Going on about the tension and the nasty bits in a story! You have to have tension, you have to let the characters be unpredictable, get into trouble, do stuff that ticks everyone off."

"Why do I need to do that? Why, can’t I just write about wonderful happy people living a spiritual life, who go through life without problems?"

"Fluffy bunnies and unicorns! That’s what that is. We need the adversity, we need the tension. Tension and adversity makes us dig deeper. You know that, you just want…."

"Never mind fluffy bunnies, you always call it fluffy bunnies. There was so much tension in my life I get tense just thinking I need to write about it and now she starts off the book with tension."

"Oh, so you think it is tension because it questions one’s choices. What if it was just an exploration a way of moving towards different choices'; seeing what we are made of?"

"I know that ! It is the tension I feel as though I don’t know how to write about. Don’t know how to create tension."

"Here is one for you. The fluffy bunny looked both ways, took one hop to cross the road when the alien ship beamed him up and ate him for dinner."

"Very funny. Actually that is quite funny. You see I can deal with that and can even write that. It would the Bunny telling her family she was going to …. Actually it would be the creative, most popular, kind bunny who everyone relied on, telling her family she was going to quit Carrot Cultivation School six months before graduation to hop through the underground rabbit burrows of Cornwall and she may never finish school."

"Yes, good one. If you don’t mind me saying so, seems like you have a thing about disappointing people who rely on you to be something they thought you should be and convinced you as well." 

"You may be correct. The tension for me is the struggle between the longing to do what your heart calls you to and responsibilities. I think it is also about faith and trust. Trusting my heart and the relationship with the unknown."

"Yah! You have such a weird relationship with the unknown. It really is the “both and”, you have a relationship and you also struggle with certain types of unknowns. 

It is the emotional investment!

You want to love the good characters and to be honored for trusting them by that character having a good life and doing good things.

You just don’t like not knowing how it ends!"

"Well, I am better than I used to be, I used to read the last page of a book to see what happens. Oh my did I admit that out loud?"

"Yes, you did! Sorry I will stop Laughing soon. So now what?"

"Well you are helping me see the that tension has its place. Can I stay with it long enough for the tension to create the structure the story needs? Even in this discussion I got away form the tension by listening to you."

"Yes and no. Tension does not have to be excruciating you know! It just has to be tension. In a story there can be long term tension like the tension Severus Snapes created and there can be short term tension like Ron and Hermione in the Goblet of Fire."

"I really want my hero’s to be heroes don’t I!"

"Yes and what is so strange you also want a good story, you want to grow and I know you know tension makes You dig deeper, so your heroes will also need tension for the same reason."

"Hmmm, you are wrong you know!"

"Yah who is being funny now? Quick look your fluffy bunny has a knife and is chasing the unicorn."

"Very funny… OMG she really is!"