“Happy Mother’s Day, Sally,” I said, while holding a plate of basil mashed potatoes and beef medallions. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that broccoli salad – the house specialty – and eyed it as another patron of the Sunday Brunch dived in.
Sally looked up as she spooned smoked salmon onto her plate. “Hello.” She glanced behind me, and I saw one of her children, the six year old, heading into the buffet line.
“How’s the writing going?”
“Good,” she said as she reached around me, handing him a plate. “Don’t spill.” She stepped out of line. “I don’t know if we can meet tomorrow. I have a school field trip.”
“No problem, I said, we’re just going to talk about Scene Structure.”
She made a face. “Okay, I lied. The writing is not going well. My scenes just feel so…boring. I keep trying to add some action, even obstacles into the scene, but it just ends up looking like a lot of activity – James, that’s enough olives!” She made an apologetic face as she turned back to me. “Sorry. He’s like a football player – could eat you out of house and home.”
I laughed. “No problem. But I know what your scene is missing – Tension. It’s that sense that something could go wrong, that the character isn’t going to meet their goal.” Another patron bellyed up to the broccoli dish. Shoot. Maybe I could elbow my way in, take out that woman and her walker.
Sally, meanwhile, edged toward the buffet table, reached in and righted her son’s plate before his gravy could hit the floor. “But I can only put up so many obstacles before the scene seems silly.”
“Obstacles aren’t tension. Tension comes from the inside, from fearing something that will – or won’t – happen, or even wanting two different things. For example, right now you fear James dumping his mashed potatoes and gravy onto the person in front of him.”
“You don’t know James. Last month, he managed to spill Kool-Aid across three plates at the church social.”
“I understand. You want to allow him independence and for him to succeed at getting his own plate of food, and yet you also don’t want to make a scene. Those two goals, and the obstacle that your son is young and you’re trapped talking to me is causing you great tension.”
She gave me a wry smile.
“Creating more obstacles doesn’t create more tension. Tension is created in two ways:
- By fearing something and trying to keep it from happening.
- From wanting two equally valuable things, and the inner dissonance that creates.
“In your case, you have both issues and right now, you’re just about to grab your son’s plate and tell him to go to the table, which could possibly create a huge scene, which is a fear, also.”
“You’re a mom, aren’t you?”
“Of three big sons who had their share of buffet moments. But every scene has tension embedded it in, you just have to figure out the fear that looms over the scene, and how to create some inner dissonance.” Oh good, the servers were adding more broccoli. I turned my back on it to focus on Sally.
“You do this by figuring out what your character wants, and why, and then using your obstacles to keep your character from achieving it. Or, if they do achieve it, by making us believe they won’t achieve it until the very end.”
She smiled as her son walked past her, a slab of roast beef draping over his plate. He made it all the way to their table. “So tension in a scene doesn’t have to be bombs blowing up, or people getting shot.”
“No. It can be simply a mom trying to keep her son’s Sunday shirt clean in the buffet line. The key is, it has to be something that matters to the character, something they want, for a good reason. The obstacles simply threaten that thing they want. And it’s this fear of failure that creates the tension. You can also increase the tension by having your character want two different things, and have an inner battle about which one is better.”
“Like standing in line talking to my mentor, or helping my son navigate the buffet line.”
“Right.” I smiled.
“So, instead of meeting tomorrow, how about if I figure out what my character wants and why, and what might stand in her way.”
“And stop by Tuesday’s blog and I’ll post an equation I use for creating tension in a scene.” I headed back into line to grab the broccoli spoon. “Happy Mother’s Day.”
Truth: Obstacles in a story are not Tension. Obstacles in a story CREATE tension by standing in the way of what the character wants. To create strong tension, start with what the character wants, and why, and then add the obstacles. This combination will create a fear of failure. And that fear is what causes Tension.
Dare: Do you have a fear of failure in your scene? How about two different things your character wants to create inner tension? If your story lacks this, go back and ask, “What does my character Want, and Why?”
Happy Writing!
Susie May
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