Comments on: Amping Up Character Tension

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:40:39 +0000

We all write the talking head scenes. And then we, hopefully, catch them in revision!

Thanks for the link.

By: ann wilkes

ann wilkes — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:53:56 +0000

Becky,
When I start yawning at my own writing, I torture one of my characters. I basically think, “What would totally ruin his day/plan/plot to destroy the universe? Sometimes, I just kill a character. Everyone deals differently with grief.

I totally agree about the sitting around the table talking thing. That’s one of my pet peeves. Yet, I find myself writing talking heads from time to time. But I know enough now to delete those scenes and put the ideas into action.

Thanks for the great post. Gonna link to it from SFOO.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:43:11 +0000

I need to do that. So far, the only flaw she’s got is being too whiny and a bit too self-centered. I’m okay with self-confidence, but…!

By: Shawna

Shawna — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:33:06 +0000

You, my friend, hit the nail on the head. Tension on every page!

I was feeling a little bad the other day for everything I was doing to my characters. Poor messed up people. So my only advice is give your characters some faults.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:47:09 +0000

Thanks, PJ. I’m reminding myself for revision–I seem to keep writing two-person bland scenes in this first draft. Oh, well, getting the bones down!

By: P. J. Hoover

P. J. Hoover — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:40:05 +0000

You post is fantastic! Conflicting motivation! Tension on every page! These are rules I would love to live by

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:04:14 +0000

That’s conflict in our LIVES, not in our “scenes” together. Or not much, anyway!

I love triangles.

By: Terri Thayer

Terri Thayer — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:52:29 +0000

Not a lot of conflict? Have you been listening to the same things I have?????

This is a great list. I often add the third character to the mix. That’s instant tension.