Change

Hi everyone,

Okay, the micro-tension page today that I’m looking at is 197. On this page my main character, Ellodie, feels that something bad is coming and wants to run away but doesn’t because she can’t abandon the person with her. On the actual page, she notes that something bad is coming but doesn’t say that she would like to abandon the person, she just accepts that they can’t run.

I added in 31 words making this run/hide v’s stay/protect conflict explicit. It’s there in Ellodie’s mind, I just didn’t share it with the reader, oops. It’s there now. Hopefully, that makes for better reading.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Page 197

The micro-tension here comes from warring thoughts: trust v’s distrust and real v’s imagined.

There is also a turning point for the main characters and turning points: a change in direction, however small, always gives rise to micro-tension. The change here is that now Katniss has a different perspective on the game (explicitly stated), and she has a better chance of survival. This is a relatively big change but any change can bring about micro-tension. A change in the dynamics of a conversation or the mood or tone of a page, all equally give rise to micro-tension.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: Page 197

The micro-tension on this page stems from action which gives rise to anticipation. What’s going to happen next.

Okay, that’s all from me tonight.

See you tomorrow.

Happy writing,

Joanne.

Micro-tension pages revised: 10

* 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