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A while back, me and a few online writing buddies were chatting on The Word Cloud (free writers online forum at xxx) about how to increase tension in a scene and make it more dramatic.
A can’t remember the majority of our ideas, but one guys suggestion continues to stick in my mind: If you’ve got a boring scene, he said, just add some ninjas!
We laughed (LOL-ed). Then asked, okay, but seriously, how?
Well, recently I stumbled across the fabulous TerribleMinds.com blog. Entertaining and enlightening (with a good splattering of colourful language) this site is a fantastic writers resource. One posts in particular leapt out at me:
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/11/08/25-things-you=should-know-about-suspense-and-tension/
That’s right – 25 ways to increase suspense and tension in your story. I recognise a whole bunch of these in my current WIP, but the ones that leap out are Number 5 (Bear under the Table), Number 9 (Save the Date) and Number 14 (Personal Suspense above Global Suspense).
When I’m thinking about adding friction in a scene I often return to this blog for a quick mind-jolt.
And there’s not a ninja in sight!
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Tags: chuck wendig, creating tension, terribleminds.com, Writers Resources, Writing
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