by Melissa Tagg, @Melissa_Tagg
Let’s chat about conflict and tension, shall we?
If you’d asked me a few years ago to describe conflict or tension in a story, I might’ve given the same definition for both. They feel similar on a surface level.
But they’re actually two very different things. I’ve come to define them this way:
Conflict: The stuff that happens in the story. The obstacles. The disappointments. The problems.
Tension: The taut feelings that happen in the story. The push and pull, the strain, that sense of being torn.
Often when I run into murky spots in my WIPs—that irritating point where the story just doesn’t feel compelling and I start worrying I’m writing the world’s worst novel (please tell me I’m no the only one who ever feels that way!)—I’ll find myself leaning in to the temptation of simply giving my hero or heroine more conflict. More to do. More in his or her way.
Story feels too light? Eh, throw an extra plot thread at a character.
But you know what? That almost always backfires. And you know why? Because in filling the pages with one more conflict, I end up robbing myself of space for tension. Internal tension. Romantic tension. Spiritual tension.
And sometimes the best thing I can do to deepen tension is to deny the urge to complicate the conflict and instead, give my characters more room to develop and deepen on the page.
Don’t get me wrong. We NEED conflict in our books. We need obstacles and challenges and disappointments. We need to throw crappy stuff at our characters and see how they deal with it all. And an amazing conflict that springs from an intriguing premise is going to propel readers through your book…
But it’s the tension that’ll keep them thinking about the book once the conflict is resolved.
The best stories are hefty with a depth that comes from internal tension. The tension that forms from a fear of failure. Or a romance that can’t possibly work. Or the push and pull of conflicting values or goals. Tension is a little harder to pinpoint, it takes a little more finesse to craft…but when it’s there, it’s THERE.
I think of conflict as something that widens a story…and tension as the thing that deepens the story. And I think the best story tension grows where a character’s greatest dream collides with his or her greatest fear.
And here’s where I take a turn for the spiritual. I think sometimes I approach my life as a series of goals to meet and conflicts to work through and chapters to complete and story threads to add. I let life get wide—possibly wider than it should be—and my faith becomes like a subplot that hobbles along, not fully developed, trying to exist alongside everything else…
And what I really want? What I really crave? A life that’s deep. A life where I’ve got space to develop into the person I want to be…instead of a character who just hurries from one chapter to the next, juggling too many story threads.
I want to recognize the threads that aren’t working and take the time to get untangled.
I want to find that tension-filled place where my dreams and fears meet up…and see what God will do when I let him deepen the story of my life.
Last year, after traumatic circumstances forced her from her job as a nanny, Mara Bristol finally found a place to belong—the winsome Everwood Bed & Breakfast at the edge of Maple Valley, Iowa. For months, she’s helped its owner, Lenora, maintain the ramshackle property despite their shortage of guests. But when Lenora fails to return from a month-long trip and the bank threatens foreclosure, Mara worries she’s once again alone . . . abandoned . . . about to lose the only true home she’s ever known.
Detective Marshall Hawkins is no closer to whole today than he was two years ago . . . the day his daughter died. Between his divorce, debilitating migraines, and a dependence on medication, his life is falling apart. And when a reckless decision on the job propels him into administrative leave, he has no other plan but to get in his truck and drive. A one-night stay at the Everwood was supposed to be just that. But there’s something about the old house—or maybe its intriguing caretaker—that pulls him in.
Together, Mara and Marshall set out to save the Everwood. But its secrets run deeper than they could’ve imagined. As they renovate the house and search for its missing owner, they’ll each confront the pain that brought them to the Everwood in the first place . . . and just maybe discover a faith and love to help them carry on.
Melissa Tagg is the award-winning author of the popular Walker Family series, the Where Love Begins series and the Enchanted Christmas Collection. Her latest release, Now and Then and Always, kicks off a new series set in her beloved-by-readers fictional town of Maple Valley. Melissa is a former reporter, current nonprofit grant writer and total Iowa girl. Melissa’s books include a 2018 ACFW Carol Award Winner (One Enchanted Noel), an RT Book Reviews TOP PICK (All This Time) and a Publishers Weekly Spring Top Ten Pick (Like Never Before). Melissa has taught at multiple national writing conferences, as well as workshops and women’s retreats. When she’s not writing, she can be found hanging out with the coolest family ever (not that she’s biased), bookworming, watching old movies, and spoiling her nieces and nephews. Melissa loves connecting with readers at www.melissatagg.com and on Facebook and Instagram.