I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with Donald Maass on the importance of having micro-tension in your manuscript. Just as the term suggests, this doesn't refer to the over-arching conflict or obstacle facing your main character (which you could think of as macro-tension). Micro-tension is the tension that keeps readers turning each page in that "Oh, I'll read just one more chapter before bed...oh my god, it's 3am" kind of way. It's "line by line" tension. Do you have enough micro-tension in your story? Is there some sort of conflict on every page of your novel. Every. Single. Page. Mr. Maass discussed 3 main components of micro-tension:
1) Dialogue - every interaction between two characters should involve some sort of tension. This doesn't need to be overly dramatic, such as a fight. It can be subtle and implied, but it should still be there (think Hills Like White Elephants).
2) Exposition - this is a great place to show the contradiction (conflict) between what a character is feeling/thinking and what they're doing (their actual behavior).
3) Action - while this might be the easiest place in theory to create micro-tension, you still need to make sure you have conflicting emotions in order to keep readers turning the page.
A great idea from Donald Maass: Print out your full manuscript and throw it in the air. Yeah, this might give overly organized peeps (like me) a heart attack but it's still great advice. Pick up a page at random and see if there is micro-tension on the page. Then pick up another page, etc. until you've picked up Every. Single. Page. If there's a page without micro-tension - fix it. His reason for doing it that way is that when writers read their manuscript in chronological order, they tend to over-estimate the tension on a given page. It's easier to be objective when picking a random page off the floor.
Any other tips out there on ensuring you have micro-tension on every page? Now get out there and throw those manuscripts!
This is great advice. I'm going to have to take a peak at mine with a red pen :/
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! Although, my family worries about my sanity as it is. If they came in and I was sitting in a pile of pages scattered on the office floor, they might think I'm totally off my rocker.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to do it when nobody else is home.
This is a great post! Lots of good stuff. I've read that idea of randomly checking a page in your ms to see if there's conflict, but not like that. That's a cool idea. Maybe rather than printing it out and tossing it, you could use the random number generator to pick the pages.
ReplyDeleteCandyland - great idea. I tend to use a pink or purple pen to soften the corrections. :)
ReplyDeleteLacey - I think my family is used to my crazy ways, so they probably wouldn't bat an eye. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. :)
Valerie - a random number generator would definitely erase the 'mess' factor - but I think it would be good for me to shake things up a bit (literally)!
What a crazy but great idea. *pretty sure my MS would not pass this test*
ReplyDeleteMr. Maass sure does know what he's talking about.
Matthew - he sure does. I was in awe the whole time he spoke!
ReplyDeleteI love the page throwing exercise! Reminds me of pick-up sticks only way more beneficial. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a really good tip. I don't know if I'm brave enough to do it with a 360 page novel. But maybe with my shorter one...hmn.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. Definitely will try tossing my manuscript in the air (not a problem as I'm not very neat in general!). Thanks for your congrats on my sale of AUDITION. Look forward to following your writing journey as well. Stasia
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. Time to get out the red pen!
ReplyDeleteKristi, thanks for visiting my blog. I wish you much luck with your queries. You're so right, we only need ONE yes!
ReplyDeleteWow, terrific advice--makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAnd, sadly, I don't think my family would bat an eye at this behavior, either! :)
Great article. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! Thanks for sharing what you learned. I wonder if I could survive a manuscript toss... hmm... we'll see.
ReplyDeleteI don't think throwing your manuscript in the air and changing y our pages at random will accomplish much. Micro-tension is something you have to apply throughout your novel, with every word you write. You have to get a feeling for it.
ReplyDelete