Tension is one way to keep your readers on their toes–stimulating serotonin and adrenaline keeping them wide awake or increasing their blood pressure because of frustration and angst. The key point is that tension is essential to keeping your readers engaged and invested in your story no matter what genre you’re writing. So, how can a writer create tension effectively?

The most common method I used to create tension is emotional conflict. In my graduate thesis, we had to develop a story portfolio. My story focuses on a young lesbian Hmong girl emotionally torn between two choices: 1) remain a faithful daughter or 2) follow her heart’s desire, which is dating her best friend and love interest. Most of the story focuses on the emotional turmoil that the protagonist goes through, by sharing her inner thoughts. Should she come out of the closet knowing that there is a high chance that her family will disown her and she will bring shame to them? Or, should she turn a blind eye to her desires?

Building uncertainty is another method I like to use to create tension as it leaves the readers wondering about the result. While it may sound cliche, an example would be a love triangle. Two characters show interest in the same person, but none are in a relationship and are all best friends. As a writer, you can introduce twists, surprises, or moments of indecision to keep readers guessing who will end up together as a couple. Of course, my favorite ending for these types of relationships is that no one ends up together.

External conflict, and another common method I employed, can be used to breed tension. Conflict between two characters or parties can also create uncertainty that could end up flipping the script or completely changing a character’s development which keeps the readers engaged to see the outcome. I was once asked by a fellow peer between writing external or internal ( i.e. emotions, morality, etc) which was easier. I believe there is no correct answer and both are just as complicated. Additionally, it all depends on how and when you choose to convey the conflict to build up the tension.

Keep in mind that there are many other methods to create tension. Eventually, you will find one(s) that works best for your writing style or genre. Reading and analyzing the works of other writers, whether it’s the works of classmates or epic writers like Jane Austen, Stephen King, etc, will also help you become familiar with more different ways of how to develop tension.