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.

That’s the essence of tension—putting your characters in situations where any outcome could spell disaster. 

Even if you're not writing about life-or-death situations, making readers desperate to see what happens next is a skill that benefits every novel. 

Let’s look at three ways Sanctum raises the tension and how you can use them in your own scenes:

1. It Creates a Setting Ripe With Hazards 

Cave diving is dangerous. It’s secluded, there’s no easy way out, and if something goes wrong you’re on your own. 

Look at your scenes, especially the ones that start or end chapters. What kind of environment is your protagonist in? Does it feel “safe,” or does it carry inherent dangers that could cause the protagonist trouble? A setting doesn’t have to be physically dangerous to be tense—it can be emotionally fraught or socially risky.

You might:

• Cut off their escape routes: If the only possible way to move forward is to go through more danger, you leave your protagonist little choice but to risk it.
• Narrow their options: If cutting off their escape routes isn’t feasible, try making one way riskier than the other. The way they want to go won’t work, so they have to go the way they don’t want to.
• Add potential threats: What about the environment could cause trouble? Is there a storm brewing? A nosy neighbor? A locked door with who-knows-what behind it? Even if nothing happens, the possibility keeps readers uneasy and tensions high. 

In The Hunger Games, the arena itself is the hazard. Everything from poisonous berries to hidden traps creates tension before anything even “happens.” But an office can be just as dangerous if your ex-spouse was just hired as your new boss. 

(Here's more with Creating Story Tension: Rooms with an Unexpected View)

2. It Let the Characters Make Dumb Mistakes

When you ignore the cave diving expert who tells you how to survive the terrible situation you’re in, don’t be surprised when you die. In an unforgiving environment, one mistake can kill you. Don't go easy on your protagonist—make them face the consequences of their actions. 

Characters can make mistakes when:

• They don’t know something: What if your protagonist doesn’t have all the skills or information they need to get out of trouble? What mistakes might they make that will get them closer to a catastrophe? A physical mistake that affects their plan? An emotional mistake where they act without thinking? A mental mistake where they misread a situation or vital clue?
• They lose something critical: Taking away one piece of information or equipment might make the scene more tense. What item would make things harder? What bit of information would change the danger level? What do they absolutely rely on? Can you get rid of that?
• They lie or refuse to admit something: People keeping secrets or not fessing up can cause all kinds of trouble, and if the reader knows or suspects someone is holding back, there’s a lot of anticipation about how that secret will affect the scene. You don't have to have something happen, it’s the potential for disaster that makes this tense.

One warning here, however...be careful of making those "dumb mistakes" too dumb. Readers will forgive a hot-headed choice or an emotional slip up, but not a decision that ignores all common sense. There's a line between "oops" and "too stupid to live" you don't want to cross. The sweet spot is when the choice feels right for that character in that moment, even if it’s a mistake.

(Here's more with 7 Ways Your Characters Can Screw up Their Decisions)

3. It Forces Character to Make Impossible Choices 

When something goes wrong in a cave deep underwater, you might have to choose between letting one person die or saving them, which could potentially cause multiple people to die later. Those are gut-wrenching decisions and powerful ways to heighten tension.

Such impossible choices give readers a chance to wonder what they'd do in that situation, and they'll turn the page to see how your character handles it.

Types of impossible choices to explore:

• Choices between people: Who gets saved, who gets sacrificed? This applies even if it's not a life-and-death situation. Friendships, romances, or alliances could be tested.
• Choices between beliefs: Is there a line your protagonist refuses to cross? Something they swore they’d never do? How close can you push them to that line or that action?
• Choices that all suck: No-win situations are huge tension builders that keep readers invested in the story. They know no choice will end well.

Just make sure your choices are actually choices. If one path is obviously the better path, readers won't worry about the protagonist choosing it. Give each choice consequences that the protagonist doesn't want to face. 

(Here's more with The Impossible Choice: A Surefire Way to Hook Your Readers)

Tension is anticipation. The longer you can sustain that anticipation, the tighter your readers will cling to your story.

While you don’t want to throw trouble at your protagonist just to make trouble, putting them in an environment rife with potential dangers makes everything they do matter more. One mistake, one slip up, and disaster could come crashing down on their heads.

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Take a scene and highlight the moments where tension could be raised. Is the setting making things harder or easier? Could the protagonist make a small, believable mistake there? Is there an impossible choice you could layer in—even if it’s just hinted at for later? Write down one adjustment for each question, then revise the scene with those in place. Notice how much more breathless it feels. 

What's your favorite way to raise the tension? What have you seen or read that did it particularly well?

*Originally published May 2011. Last updated August 2025.

Find out more about setting and description in my book, Fixing Your Setting & Description Problems.

Go step-by-step through setting and description-related issues, such as weak world building, heavy infodumping, told prose, awkward stage direction, inconsistent tone and mood, and overwritten descriptions. Learn how to analyze your draft, spot any problems or weak areas, and fix those problems.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Fixing Your Setting & Description Problems offers five self-guided workshops that target the common issues that make readers stop reading. It will help you:

• Choose the right details to bring your setting and world to life
• Craft strong descriptions without overwriting
• Determine the right way to include information without infodumping
• Create compelling emotional layers that reflect the tone and mood of your scenes
• Fix awkward stage direction and unclear character actions

Fixing Setting & Description Problems starts every workshop with an analysis to pinpoint problem areas and offers multiple revision options in each area. You choose the options that best fit your writing process. It's an easy-to-follow guide to crafting immersive settings and worlds that draw readers into your story and keep them there.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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