Let's talk tension. No, not the way your back and shoulders feel after watching the news, but the dramatic tension in your stories.
We're all taught that the best (or at least easiest) way to build tension in your stories is with a ticking time bomb. Have you found this to be effective for you? Examples from your work?
Peter G: I avoid the ticking clock as much as possible. Or, at least, limit its presence. My Hannah Singer books, for example -- there is a sort of ticking clock when Hannah is arguing in court. Once a petitioner's fate is decided, there's no do-overs, so she only has one chance to get it right. But, to ratchet up the tension, that's where the trial arguments come in. I intentionally make the stories where she gets the toughest cases, so the tension comes from seeing if Hannah can figure out what is going on AND can circumvent it. Telling the stories in first person and walking the readers through her mental processes helps. As a result, the tension shifts from getting something done in a certain amount of time and over to how smart she is.
In Snow Hunt, Snow and his former C.O., a bomb disposal expert, are trying to catch a bomber who has been hired to assassinate someone of importance. They know the general where, the how, and the who. The tension comes in finding the bomb, which could be hidden almost anywhere in the conference center. Then, there’s tension when it’s found. Can we diffuse it in time? Then, there’s tension in trying to catch the bad guy before he gets away. There are several opportunities for tension in those scenes.
Sean Taylor: For me, it has always been the simple question of "will they" or "won't they." That's my ticking clock, and I have till the end of the story to resolve it. This can be a life-or-death situation, such as will they catch the killer or will they escape the death trap, as in my pulp stories. It can also be a more subdued, normal situation, such as will they fall in love or will they be able to reconcile. But regardless of the question, if it has the power to drive the narrative, it will have the power to build tension regarding its answer.
