Let me be clear. I’m not referring to the kind of tension you might experience on a bad day at work or driving in rush hour traffic. That kind of tension is not good for your health. It raises your blood pressure, elevates the cortisol in your blood and reeks havoc on your body as a whole. I’m talking about the tension that builds over the arc of a good story… the magnetic pull that keeps you turning pages long after you should have been asleep. That’s the good kind of tension. That’s the kind of tension we all crave.

You may be a peace-loving and generous person who expects the best from people… news of the world’s troubles and injustices genuinely upset you, and arguing makes you physically ill. You watch videos of baby chicks and kittens on YouTube and you punctuate your text messages with little smiley faces. Those are fine sentiments, if a bit idyllic, but they are not the attributes you are looking for when you crack open a good book.

Peaceful Harmony is Boring

Stories without conflict and tension are not stories; they are family newsletters full of whitewashed memories and wishful thinking. Unless someone is at risk of suffering or losing something precious, a story is not worth telling. Unless there is a worthy and capable person or problem blocking the main character’s goal, a story is not worth reading. Unless the outcome is uncertain and success or failure balances on a razor’s edge, a story is not worth hearing. Tension propels fiction.

As your writer, it is my obligation to construct a world that you can reasonably accept, that allows you to suspend your disbelief long enough for me to tell you a story. I must populate this fictional place and time with characters that matter to you. Okay. That’s a start… but if I just waltz my characters through this fictional world in a parade of dancing unicorns and Santa’s elves, I’ll lose your attention before you turn a page; unless, of course, the elves are riding the unicorns into battle against the walking dead and the hounds of hell, but we’ll get to that in another post.

Tension Builds to the Climax

Once I have introduced the story’s main players, and you have a connection to the world they occupy… Then, the fun begins. Something happens and the story transitions from introductions to complications. Something goes wrong, and that’s when the story really grabs you. In scene after scene, the characters are twisted, torn and pulled in opposing directions. Unexpected obstacles and reversals cause endless conflict and hardship… then it gets worse. The story decends to the ‘all is lost’ moment and hesitates. Hold your breath. Then, against all hope, the hero rises to win the day. Hurrah, we win! Now, that’s a story.

Now that I have revealed this secret, I will undoubtedly be added to the list of authors who are guilty of… (whispered) sharing magic with muggles. No worries, neither the IRS nor my creditors would allow me to perish. I’m too deep in debt to be silenced! But, I am going to call it a day. That’s enough secret sauce for now.

Until next time…

Be well and read fiction,

M. J. Murdy