How to write a tense scene (practical tips for adding tension and suspense to your writing)

How to write a tense scene, no matter what you're writing:

Tension is an essential tool to learn for writers, but it doesn't have to be mysterious. Sometimes the simplest of scenes can be the most tense.

In this video I break down a tense story I wrote this week and give you some practical tips for writing tense scenes, whatever kind of writing you're doing.

Tension is all about conflict and balance. Too much conflict too quickly and you'll have no tension, too little over too long and your readers will tune out.

Hopefully these tips will help you add some real tension to your writing, so you can cross that skill off your list and not feel so tense about it.

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[andreannelavoie]

I love walking through an example like that and peppering advice as you go. That was great! Loved the story too!

[nehukybis]

That's a wonderful insight - suspense, tension - it's all about information management. Knowing exactly what to reveal when.
The abrupt or unexplained lack of information can also raise tension. A telephone line goes dead in the middle of a conversation, a contact misses a scheduled rendezvous, the telemetry feed of the remote drone cuts out for no apparent reason.
One thing I do is set up multiple ways a catastrophe could occur to keep the reader guessing. And then when disaster strikes it causes a chain reaction, so all of the complications play out in some way.
I think the >worst> thing to do is set up fake cliffhangers that are immediately resolved at the start of the next chapter. Conflict needs to move the story forward. If it isn't important to the story, it's just a distraction.

[writeitdown]

Love the idea of tipping the balance. And the ambiguity of the ending is fantastic. I wouldn't want to know what happens. Far more intriguing to wonder who he plans to shoot.

[laurabesley]

This step-by-step is absolutely brilliant!

[alanclaytonrighteousviolen]

This was a great one. It helped me completely revolutionize a scene I was working on.

[resistancepublishing]

Thank you for this. I needed to tighten up on a scene in my comic that I couldn’t get just right. Found that solution because of this video.

[JoeyPaulOnline]

Oh I loved that scene, and the way it ended!

[healhp]

"Ignorance builds tension." I got quite the lesson on this from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, and I have been itching to utilize it in my writing since. Regarding quiet characters, though, how do you suggest writing that? That a character isn't doing anything? In one of your last excerpts, I saw you wrote, "Still the killer said nothing." How often would you point that out? How many words, how much space, do you devote to, well, nothing?

[chrisflynn]

Best example of suspense and tension imo would definetily be wrong turn escaping the cabin scene. That scene is a masterpiece

[Voice.of.the.Fire.Ministries]

Amazing! Just what I needed. You should do more tips like this with Dialogue and other parts if writing. Like Tenses, POV, and show vs tell.

[gamewriteeye]

Have you seen a novel with third person omniscient with multi pov first person(deep pov, primarily)?

I do think one good way to build tension with a multi pov story is to have one character know something and another knowing nothing or both knowing two different things which leads to conflict. Currently in the outlining stage for a first real draft, finally(after a long zero draft), which now is upped from 6 narrators to feature 9 different narrators(wish me luck) but the story's rework of tightening the plot points as opposed to stretching them out will make for a very tense reading experience. Even if I had written it from just the original six, the plot points would lack information since some characters don't know anything of the background(taking major world-building steps).

[MeredithPhillipsWrites]

Great tips! I'll need to watch this again...multiple times, haha!
Also, once again, let me know when your books/short story collection/flash fiction anthology is ready to buy. I'M READY.

[themeanderinghero]

Hey mate,
Really enjoyed this. Love the specific craft advice.
Thank you.

[axeledfalk]

Great video! Working on a short story right now using your advices

[StarlasAiko]

Letting the reader know of a threat way before the character knows about it is a bit difficult in third person limited...

[krampus]

this story *feels* liwke it was written by a british guy.
(the way the gun was handled lol) But your video was EXTREAMLY helpful for what i needed to do, thank you for all the great tips and using your story as an example ^^

[dacrewordsmith]

"...3 am-neighbourhood-cat stand-off..."

Genre!

[theapavlou]

Just found your video! What would you suggest you do with tension for the end of book 1 for a 3 book series? I see this is 3 years old lol, still relevant

[demon__adrian]

i felt slight tension but an immense amount of re speculation.

[tyleigh]

I'm writing a story and have just one question? Please any advice would help