Shock and Disbelief
Hi everyone,
My 12th and final page in this set under my micro-tension microscope is 245. On this page my main character is doing something she shouldn’t. I do mention that she is afraid of getting caught but I fail to make clear that while she is afraid she is also exhilarated and excited. It’s there very subtly under the surface because she didn’t think she’d get this far and feels like she’s about to have a sucess but none of it is waging war. So I added in 11 words to make the fear v’s excitement micro-tension clear.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: page 244:
Page 245 was a blank page indicating a new part so I took page 244 instead. There are four sources of micro-tension here:
Anticipation
Discovery
Shock
Big turning point (which is why it’s the end of a part)
So, basically, a page overflowing with micro-tension. The reader is compelled to turn the page.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: Page 245
This is the same micro-tension as page 136 in my post yesterday. Discovery. However, the end of the page has the edition of micro-tension between two people (friction) and internal thoughts of fear v’s bravery. So overall, a stronger micro-tension page than yesterday.
Okay, so that is all 12 pages modified to have more micro-tension. I have printed out my entire novel in a random order as I intend to continue to identify and fix pages with no micro-tension. Because I have to find a place to delete words to make room for my micro-tension—I absolutely can’t increase the length of my manuscript—I’m going to limit myself to places where the lack of micro-tension is glaring. While I’m reading to assess micro-tension, I’m also reading to find places to delete words.
I’ll only document here if I’ve fixed another page for micro-tension in my tracker, not the number of pages that are okay. I’ll update you at big landmarks like 50%, 75% done. But otherwise, I’ll concentrate here on what I’m writing because I find in the line level revisions, you can’t blitz it as you fatigue and are either too strict or too lenient when tired. So while I do the micro-tension draft, I’ll also try to write or do queries.
I’ll still read the relevant pages in The Hunger Games. What I’ve learned from reading it to compare to my pages and learn more about micro-tension is that the book is a masterclass in micro-tension. Most of the time she has more than one source of micro-tension on the page. Which is too impressive for words. Getting one source of micro-tension on the page is hard but three and four sources is genius. So hats off to her. I won’t post my micro-tension analysis here but just so that you are aware, I’m continuing it because I’m learning so much.
Right, that’s it from me for tonight,
See you tomorrow.
Happy writing.
Joanne.
Micro-tension pages revised: 12
* If you want to learn more about micro-tension see Donald Maas’s, The Breakout Novelist: How to Craft Novels That Stand Out and Sell. Chapter 17.
He’s also given webinars on it which can be bought from the Free Expressions website I linked on my courses recommendations page. Here’s the link directly to the webinar recordings. https://www.free-expressions.com/webinar-recordings
