Writing Prompt: The Skill Builder: Raising the Tension in a Scene

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt focuses on an exercise designed to work on a particular skill or technique, such as a POV exercise or character builder. Today’s skill: Tension.

Create or revise a scene and pack it full of tension

Tension is often created by what isn’t said. Look at your scene and determine if you’re being too obvious or forthcoming.

• If you held something back a little, would it make the scene more tense or interesting?
• If people didn’t answer questions honestly and fully, would it create tension?
• Is the subtext hinting at more going on beneath a character’s surface?

A handy tension-building question: Where in the scene might readers anticipate something?