- ‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night: Creating Micro-Tension
Every work of fiction is fueled by some grand conflict or tension, but on the paragraph-to-paragraph level, the story gains momentum through micro-tension. Author Donald Maass states: “Micro-tension is the moment-by-moment tension that keeps the reader in a constant state of suspense over what will happen, not in the story but in the next few…
- Too Many Eyes?
With one week left before the deadline to enter the Colorado Gold Literary Awards, we are receiving more entries every day. I’m not here to discuss procrastination (plenty of other posts have already been written about that) but rather what a writer might be doing in those final days before a deadline, be it for…
- From Subtle Unease to Heart-Pounding Thrills: Using Tension in Fiction
For my second novel, Blindspot, I ventured into a new genre, that of psychological suspense. It’s the type of book I gravitate to as a reader and I’m a long-term fan of anything in the mystery realm (I devoured the entire Agatha Christie oeuvre when I was sixteen) How hard could it be? Insert hubris…