Whoa, That’s Tense. 3 Ways to Raise the Tension in Your Scenes

By Janice Hardy

Tension isn’t about what’s happening—it’s about what might happen next.

Great stories keep us on the edge of our seats, but they aren’t always packed with nonstop explosions or fight scenes. Sometimes, it’s a drip-drip-drip of water that plays on your nerves, a heavy silence before someone drops a secret that will change everything, or a glance that lingers too long and means so much. What makes us tense is the anticipation—that nagging sense that something bad could happen any second.

The movie Sanctum is a fantastic example of how to take advantage of tension. Set in a labyrinth of underwater caves where one wrong move means death, it layers danger, dread, and impossible choices until viewers are holding their breath right alongside the characters. Even though I’ve never been cave diving, I have dived wrecks with tight, confined spaces, and I know how quickly “this is fine” can shift into “this can kill me.” One wrong turn, one bad decision, and you’re in real trouble.

Where Does Your Novel's Conflict Come From?

By Janice Hardy

One of the more common reasons why a story isn't working is the lack of a strong conflict.

Without conflict there is no story. No matter what the story is, you can boil it down to “The protagonist wants something and someone or something is standing in the way.” The novel is about getting past that person or thing to resolve the conflict and earn the protagonist their goal.

As simple as that sounds, it’s not always so clear when you’re looking at your idea. Ideas are often more concept than plot, a great premise without a solid story yet, and the conflict at the core of that idea is fuzzy. Your instinct tells you it’s there, but critique partners or even agents just aren’t seeing it.

In most cases, the conflict isn’t strong enough yet, or it’s not clear what the actual conflict (and problem) is.

A 5-Minute Fix for a Blah Scene

By Janice Hardy

Sometimes the best fix isn’t changing what characters say—it’s changing where they say it.

Before I dive in, I did a guest post on Monday at Writers in the Storm, on "5 Paths to Plotting Your Novel".  Now, back to our regularly scheduled post…

This might be sacrilegious as a science fiction and fantasy writer, but I dislike writing description—especially settings. I’m more of a dialogue and action gal, and my first drafts (okay, sometimes second drafts as well), have a lot of “white room” scenes, where nothing about the setting is mentioned. This was a big problem in my early writing days, since SFF readers enjoy the world building and setting and all the things I had to slog through to write.

I got feedback such as:

• I can’t picture the setting
• Where is this happening? Could they interact more with the room?
• I feel unanchored, and there’s no sense of place

All of it was justified, and after a lot of reading, learning, and forcing myself to just do it, I found a way to enjoy writing setting descriptors.

The Difference Between a Task and a Goal When Plotting

By Janice Hardy

Does your protagonist really need to do that?

Many writers struggle with plotting because they add “stuff” to a scene without thinking about how that stuff affects the story. They think “All scenes need a goal, so let’s add a goal,” but what they write is a scene where someone cleans a room, delivers a package, or walks across the village to grab an ale. It feels like progress since the protagonist is active and moving, but they’re not pursuing a goal. They’re only completing a task.

And tasks aren’t compelling. They’re filler disguised as plot.

Tasks might fill pages, but they don’t fuel the story, because there’s nothing to be gained or lost by completing them. A room gets clean, a package arrives, and an ale is enjoyed, but they have zero effect on how the story turns out.

What the plot needs, are goals.

Why Your Amazon Book Page Isn’t Converting — and How to Fix It

By Penny Sansevieri

Part of the Indie Author Series

JH: If you’ve been running ads, posting on social media, and doing all the “right” things but sales are still stuck in slow gear, the problem might not be your book—it might be your book page. The amazing Penny Sansevieri is here today, sharing exactly how to identify what’s holding your page back and how to fix it. 

Take it away, Penny…

You’ve written a great book. Maybe you’ve even run some Amazon ads, tried social media, or landed a few book reviews. But your sales? They’re trickling in—or worse, stalled completely.

Sound familiar?

If so, you’re not alone. One of the most common challenges authors face isn’t visibility. It’s conversion. In other words, people are finding your book—but they’re not buying it.

5 Ways to Create Nuance in Your Characters

By Janice Hardy

It’s not the big, flashy moments that make characters unforgettable—it’s the subtle differences and distinctions.

One of my favorite writing quotes is: “Readers come for the plot, but they stay for the characters.” It’s a good reminder that stories are ultimately about people and their problems, and no matter how interesting that problem might be, flat, dull characters won’t keep the reader engaged. I’ve flipped to the end of a few “great plot, bad characters” books because I wanted to know the ending, but I didn’t want to slog through the story to get there.

What could have saved those books from such a horrible fate was stronger characters. What could have made those books unforgettable was nuanced characters.

How to Describe Your Setting Without Infodumping

By Janice Hardy

Bring your world to life without burying readers in the details.

Crafting a setting is about more than telling readers where your story takes place—it’s about inviting them to step inside your story world and making them feel like they belong. When your setting feels real, your characters also feel real, and readers are more likely to care about what happens to them. A well-drawn world can ground your narrative and create an immediate emotional connection.

It’s tempting to describe every brick, breeze, and blade of grass in a setting you love, but too much description all at once can drown your story (and reader) in information. Instead of pulling readers in, you risk making them feel like they’re slogging through a travel brochure.

The strongest settings come alive organically. They’re woven into the action, filtered through the character’s perspective, and delivered in easy-to-digest spoonfuls that keep the story moving while showing readers all they need to know about the world.

3 Ways to Add Tension to a Scene

By Janice Hardy

If your scene lacks excitement, try making someone squirm.

I wrote an interrogation scene for my detective WIP that should have been dripping with tension, but it read like a giant infodump. No resistance. No stakes. Just the bland back-and-forth of information I wanted readers to know, and the whole scene just went splat.

This is pretty common, especially in early drafts. We know what happens in our story and why, so we tend to skip over the uncertainty that creates that all-important story tension. 

But without that uncertainty, scenes can feel like they're just going through the motions.

What Your Favorite Book Can Teach You About Writing

By Janice Hardy

Your favorite book is more than a great read—it’s a masterclass in writing craft.

I have a beat-up copy of Dave Duncan’s The Gilded Chain on my shelf that’s filled with notes in the margins and highlighted passages in different colors. It was my writing textbook when I was figuring out how to write and analyzing what made the books I loved work.

I loved Duncan’s prose. (Still do.) It’s smooth, clear, never draws attention to itself, but always pulls me right into the story. I studied how he structured sentences, how he handled action, how he managed dialogue without slowing the pace. I wasn’t trying to mimic him—I was trying to understand why his writing kept me turning pages long past midnight.

The Secret to Avoiding the Sagging Story: What Makes a Good Middle

By Janice Hardy

Many writers dread the middle of a novel—but writing a strong one is easier than you think.

When I was new to writing, every novel I wrote bogged down in the middle. I’d start off well, but then run out of things for my protagonist to do, so I’d start making things up just to fill up space. Soon, it would turn into a complete mess and I’d start over.

I can’t tell you how many times I did this. Dozens at least, if not more.

Eventually, the frustration got to me and I decided if I wanted to break this cycle of despair, I’d have to find a way to get through the middle of my novel.

And I did.

So well, in fact, that my agent said my first novel’s middle was “damn near perfect.”