What makes readers keep turning the page? Is it the exciting plot? The relatable characters? Sure, they do have an impact but these alone aren’t enough to keep readers hooked. Instead, the main push is almost always their desire to find out what happens next.
This is why narrative tension is often touted as the reason that readers keep reading. Will Jimmy succeed in his audition? What will happen when Nancy finds out about her father’s past? How will Martin react when he sees the letter that Robert wrote to Sarah?
What is Narrative Tension?
Essentially, narrative tension is the suspense of not knowing what happens next in a story. It’s what sustains the reader’s interest and keeps them turning pages, even into the wee hours of the night.
Narrative tension comes in many different forms, such as a relationship, a task, a mystery, or some kind of surprise. Knowing each type and how to wield its power will take you to greater heights as a writer—one who knows how to keep your readers engaged.
Then, you also need to learn how to put them together, much as you would carefully mix ingredients when baking a cake.
Components of Narrative Tension
First, let’s take a look at what narrative tension is not:
- Narrative tension is not the same as conflict. Sometimes it’s easy to think that conflict equals tension. Of course, conflict can cause tension, but on its own, it doesn’t always guarantee narrative tension. Also, narrative tension can happen even without conflict.
- Narrative tension is not the same as pacing. Pacing is the speed at which you unveil your story. Indeed, varying your storytelling pace can support narrative tension, but pacing alone does not equal tension automatically.
Here are the main components of narrative tension:
1. Anticipation and Suspense
In order to build up narrative tension, first, you need to convince your reader that something interesting will happen on the next page. This creates anticipation.
A great way to enhance anticipation is when you open up a world of possibilities. The more possible scenarios that your reader imagines in his mind, the greater his anticipation for finding out what will indeed take place. This creates a feeling of suspense as he waits for what, when, and how it happens.
For example, if you want to build up anticipation for your protagonist getting in a car accident of his own doing, you can do the following:
- Direct suggestion: Describe your protagonist already drunk from a party or getting groggy at the wheel, perhaps from lack of sleep or as the side effect of the medication he’s taking.
- Indirect suggestion: Your protagonist’s girlfriend volunteers to drive because she sees he isn’t sober enough, and they argue about it.
- Using common-sense: You describe a party where everyone is drinking and pressuring your protagonist to drink, a character whom you have already shown to be weak-willed and easily swayed; or, you describe your character popping some pills just before heading to his car.
- Foreshadowing: Before leaving for the party, your protagonist’s girlfriend sees a disturbing news report of a car accident due to a drunk driver.
Either of these methods can work, depending on how well you set up the scene so that your reader starts imagining the worst that can happen because of the situation.
2. Uncertainty and Surprise
Next, not only does your reader need to expect something to happen, but it must also be coupled with a bit of uncertainty. If all your foreshadowing already takes away the suspense, and your reader has already figured out what will happen, then there’s no reason to keep reading.
This is what keeps people reading mysteries. You like to figure out whodunit, but you keep reading to see if you did guess it right. If everything makes sense enough that you can already figure out the bad guy with certainty, you quickly lose interest.
The key is to get your readers to anticipate what will happen while also feeling a lack of resolution. This drives them to seek closure by reading some more. Some areas where you can incite uncertainty is:
- the outcome of an event
- an internal struggle
- the cause or motivation of behavior
- consequences
Let’s continue the example of the protagonist getting into a car crash. Here are some ways to set it up to create uncertainty:
- The reader knows the protagonist is drunk (or groggy from medication) and can get into an accident. But how fatal will the accident be? Will he die? Will he be disabled? Will the accident kill or disable his girlfriend? Will he kill someone else? How will the consequences unravel because of this accident?
- The reader knows that the protagonist is aware that he’s not sober enough to drive, but why does he insist on driving? What is he after? Why doesn’t he let someone else take the wheel? How does his argument with his girlfriend affect his driving? Will he change his mind along the way?
- The reader knows about the different relationships our protagonist has. How will the accident affect them? How will his girlfriend react? His friends and family?
3. Investment
Your reader’s curiosity will likely flare up with anticipation and uncertainty, but you also need to get them invested in the outcome. One of the best ways to do this is to get them to identify with your protagonist so that they will want good things to happen to them.
For example, in the same story of your protagonist drinking and driving, your reader won’t care about what happens if they haven’t been invested in the character yet.
But, what happens if they’ve gone with him on his journey through rehab, and all his struggles with giving up alcohol, and they’ve reached the point of celebrating sobriety with him? Then he attends a party, the temptation is too much, and he ends up drinking again. Your audience will be frustrated and worried about whatever happens next.
Using Tension to Keep Your Audience Reading
When you take these components of narrative tension to heart, you will be able to use your readers’ emotions to your advantage. Stir up suspense and anticipation, throw in a bit of uncertainty, and make sure they’re invested in your protagonist, and they’ll easily eat off the palm of your hand.
If you’re interested in learning more about this and how to use it in your storytelling, check out our post about building tension.
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- Character Regression: How to Use Setbacks to Create Better Characters
- Subplots: How to Add Complexity to Your Story
- Scene and Sequel: How to Plot an Epic Novel
Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
