Elements of Plot, Part 1: Tension
Of course, there are more than 3 elements of plot. In actuality, dozens of elements work together to create a good story.
But lately, I’ve been thinking about the 3 elements I’ll cover over the next 3 weeks and noticing them…everywhere.
First up? Tension.
Elements of Plot: Tension vs. Conflict
For a long time, I was desperate to understand the difference between tension and conflict. Am I alone in this?
Both are important. Writers tout both as being necessary for every single page of a story. But honestly, I was struggling to differentiate one from the other.
So I went to work, asking myself: what’s the difference? And I came up with working definitions I like to turn to whenever I feel myself getting lost in the weeds or trudging through the muck of my current WIP.
I’ll start here so that we’re all on the same page.
My current definitions for both conflict and tension are very simple, and go as follows:
Conflict: an obstacle between a character and their goal.
This could be as small as someone refusing to answer a question that a character wants to know, or as big as a knock-down-drag-out fight that happens when a character is trying to break into an ancient temple to steal a priceless artifact.
In both of these cases, the character has a goal (a thing they want), and an obstacle that comes between them and that goal.
Pretty simple, right?
Other conflict for a character might include:
The inability to get a meeting with someone they want to interview.
A struggle to properly sew together the suit of their friend that they cut up in a rage.
A curse that turns them into a creature and scares away someone they desperately want to help.
A cat that sits on top of the key they need to unlock the door they’re trapped behind.
Some of these are bigger, and some are smaller. All are taken from existing stories (Spotlight, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ogre Enchanted, and Cinderella, respectively.)
You get the picture. So now that we have a working definition for conflict, let’s talk about tension.
Tension: the immediate threat of an undesirable outcome or consequence.
I’ll dive into examples in a second. But first, I feel that it’s necessary to acknowledge the tricky part: sometimes conflict and tension elements overlap.
And that’s okay.
Sometimes storytelling is not so cut and dry. Sometimes you don’t need to have neat puzzle pieces that fit together easily. Personally, it drives me crazy (I like things as clear and organized as possible), but I’ve made my peace with it.
Even with these overlapping ideas, I still like to have my definitions on hand. Because sometimes, if a scene is not working, either conflict or tension may provide a more obvious solution to the lackluster story moment than the other.
Sometimes, I just need to remind myself, my characters, and my reader of the stakes at play: the immediate threat to something my character cares about.
And sometimes, I need to throw in a little more conflict. I need to make it harder for my character to get what they want. Why? Because struggle is a mirror of life. It’s something everyone can relate to, and therefore something readers find incredibly engaging and satisfying.
But, wait! What about good tension? Isn’t that a thing?
It certainly is. Just think about your favorite romance. There is tension leading up to the love interests getting together, and yet, that particular brand of tension is something you want to savor. Yearning, hope, excitement, titillation, curiosity—these can all be good forms of tension.
With that in mind, sometimes I find it useful to think of tension with this definition:
Tension: the anticipation of a good thing coming.
If a story only has good tension, that would likely get boring. But throwing in some good tension every now and then can be a lot of fun for the character and reader alike.
To sum up, I often like to think of tension as either unanswered fear or unanswered desire. These are the two basic emotions that story is built around. Our main character needs a desire that they are working to achieve, and fear that is stopping them from getting it.
Tension as an Element of Story Plot (vs. Real Life)
Story time:
I solidified my working definition of tension while driving to my parent’s house the other day.
I was making the 25-mile trek from my daughter’s speech therapy down to their house when I noticed that gas was running low in my car. As I coasted along the freeway, I watched the numbers tick down.
36 miles left in the tank.
35 miles left in the tank.
34 miles left in the tank.
Soon the numbers would stop showing at all! (My gas tank just gives me - - symbols when it dips below 30 miles left.)
I tried to calculate in my head how long the drive was and whether or not I could make it to my destination without running out of gas.
And I felt tension.
This was because suddenly, I was facing the immediate threat of an undesirable outcome or consequence: i.e., running out of gas.
I know this is a silly example. After all, this was real life, not a conflict-ridden story, so I always had the option of pulling over at a random exit to fill up, if need be.
Of course, it’s helpful to keep in mind that if I had done that, the tension would have instantly evaporated. No more threat, no more tension. (Which is exactly why we give our characters conflict, making these two elements work together, such as an absence of gas stations or a time crunch.)
But back to your characters.
Example of Tension as an Element of Plot
Is your character worried about losing their job? Failing at a goal? Triggering an outburst in the person they’re talking to? Experiencing shame, embarrassment, or guilt from committing an accidental faux pas?
These are all examples of tension. But let’s get more specific.
Here’s an example from the book I’m currently reading, Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. Let’s look at an excerpt from a scene that you might easily read without even noticing that tension was present.
In this scene, the protagonist, Viv, offers a latte to her new friend, Cal. This (coffee) is the product she has staked everything on. She moved to a new city and opened a cafe in order to serve a drink that virtually no one had ever heard of:
“‘One good turn deserves another. How about that milky bean water?’ asked Viv, grinning at Cal.
He made a show of grumbling about it, but watched avidly as Viv demonstrated the entire process, finally frothing the milk under a silver spout that jetted steam. When she poured foam into the mug and placed it before him, he eyed it, then her, and after gingerly blowing on it, he took a sip.
His eyes widened. ‘Well sh*t. Milky bean water. I’ll be damned.’ He took another, longer sip and burned his tongue.”
Did you spot the tension?
Viv is facing the immediate threat of an undesirable outcome: the threat of discovering that one of her only friends, someone whose opinion she greatly values, might dislike the product she will soon be selling in the cafe she has staked all of her life savings on opening.
But she’s also dealing with good tension.
She’s fairly certain that Cal will love the drink as much as she does. So she feels eager to see his reaction.
The key is to look for the stakes in your story by asking one simple question over and over—in every single scene, if necessary—and that question is this:
What does your character care about? Or, put another way, what do they care about losing or gaining?
In the example above, Viv cares about Cal’s opinion—she doesn’t want to lose his respect (she wants to gain it).
She also cares about her business—she doesn’t want to lose the money, time, and dreaming she has put into this venture (in other words, she wants to gain success).
Both of these things she cares about are in jeopardy, and that is inherent in the simple action of…making a latte. Pretty good.
Tension as Pacing
Tension is fantastic for pacing because it propels the story forward. It engages our emotions as a reader. It hooks us. It’s important to keep a form of tension on every page because that tension in your character will transfer to the reader, and an un-put-downable store will be born.
Of course, there are other necessary elements to make a story not only well-paced, but satisfying. Stay tuned next week as I dive into Progress.
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