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Tension (of any sort) lies in what doesn't happen. To create tension you create the expectation that something is about to happen, but then don't let it happen. This keeps the reader waiting for it...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:49Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31310 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T04:54:42Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31310 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T04:54:42Z (over 4 years ago)
Tension (of any sort) lies in what doesn't happen. To create tension you create the expectation that something is about to happen, but then don't let it happen. This keeps the reader waiting for it to happen, and that is tension: waiting for something to happen that you expect, hope for, or dread. There are all kinds of ways to make the anticipated event not happen. That part does not matter so much. It is really all about how much we want/expect/dread it happening and the timing of it not happening. Tension is like humor. 90% of it is timing. So, sexual tension is simply sexual relations that you expect, hope for, (or dread) that don't happen. Create the expectation of relations, then deny them.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2017-11-07T14:47:57Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 2