Using Inaction to Raise the Stakes

fictionwritingtips:

Recently someone asked me how to raise the stakes of their novel without big action scenes and I thought this question deserved further attention. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to use action to create tension—there are other simple ways to do it.

Here are a few tips on using inaction to raise the stakes:

Effectively use silence

When a character doesn’t say something when they should, this can help build tension. If a character asks, for example, “Do you lov...