How To Pace Tension in Fiction

[Originally published on the Romance Writers of Australia blog 08/06/20.]
​By Sandy Vaile
The importance of matching suspense to the fluctuations of plot Tension is a critical element of all stories and needs to be maintained in order to keep readers turning the pages, but how does this correspond to the fluctuations of plot? There can’t be life-threatening situations in every chapter, nor are all stories about mortal danger. So, let’s explore how you can match the fluctuations in a story’s plo...