Just as various literary devices add tension, others dissipate tension. In my current manuscript, my literary agent approved my use of occasional backstory chapters that slightly ease the tension (though are necessary for readers to solve the mystery part of the book) to, as she put it, “give the readers a rest.” So sometimes the tension down-ramp is a good thing, but whether it works for you or against you , you need to know what reduces tension, so you do a better job of writing YOUR Novel.
Unfortunately, you will notice that some of these things are unavoidable.
1. A new chapter
2. A shift in the POV character
3. A difficult word or name
4. A poorly constructed sentence
5. The turn of a page
6. The solution to or unraveling of a mystery (small or large)
7. The end of a very tense scene
8. The author telling the story instead of showing it through his or her characters’ actions and words
9. Typos and grammatical errors (These are usually but not always the author’s fault.)
10. A lot of description unrelieved by story
11. Blatant preaching of a theme or an author’s viewpoint (even if a character is doing the preaching)
12. Non-visual writing
13. Lack of sensory description (what your characters hear, taste, feel, see, or smell)
14. Long internal monologues by your characters
15. Stilted and unrealistic dialogue
16. Factual errors in research
17. Boy finally does get the girl or vice versa
18. The bad guy gets caught
19. The aliens who are trying to conquer planet earth are defeated
20. The end of the book
Q4U: Can you add to our list?
Assignment for the week: Maintain your schedule and eliminate any unintentional, avoidable down-ramps.
Blessings!
Sue
Great list! I have to remind myself to allow that release of tension for the reader’s rest. Plotting must be tight, but it also has to breathe.
Thank you, Rosslyn. Tension release isn’t something I usually think about when I’m writing one of my novels, but comments from my agent Rachelle Gardner about this necesiity in novels (esp. novels that use high tension levels in their plots) have really made me more aware of the process.
Hi Sue, I am thrilled to know you are working on something new! I am in the middle of reading My Sister The Moon (again!) and am savoring every page. I know I am supposed to write a story, but it hasn’t taken shape just yet. However, having found your blog, I am once again seized with the need to write! Thank you so much for the wonderful world you have (re)built. The stories that have emerged speak truth to the many ways in which we humans create our own realities through the choices we make, and the poignancy of our inability to predict the short- and long-term consequences of our actions, no matter our intent.
Great good luck with your writing, Sifu! Hope you will follow my Monday blogs, which are about writing. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. Maybe I can help! I’m glad you are enjoying my novels! (And thank you for taking the time to write and tell me so.)