People talk like microtension began and now idles with Donald Maass. For Maass, microtension boils down to a conflict…a juxtaposition…a clashing of things, preferably emotions, but also ideas, concepts, anticipations, whatever–whatever’s available for contradiction in your story. But is there more? More guidance? Continue reading
Category Archives: Emotion
Microtension: What is it and how do we get it onto the page?
Filed under Emotion, Hooks, Literary Devices, Microtension, Voice
Rhythm in Plotting: The Bestseller’s best-kept secret – Part 2
We’re looking at how to create the regular, rhythmic beat that The Bestseller Code* says exists in the top two bestselling adult books of all time, Fifty Shades of Gray* and The Da Vinci Code*.
When we left off last week, we were wondering how, specifically, to create this rhythm.
Continue readingFiled under Emotion, Literary Devices, Plot