Tension Vs. Conflict: What’s The Difference?

Tension vs. Conflict: What’s the Difference?

Good morning everyone! It’s my birthday today and because it’s my birthday I thought I’d post today (that’s kind of an obscure reference to Star Wars Guy and his girlfriend lol)!

Conflict and tension in literature help build drama and keep readers engaged through the end of the book. Learning the distinctions between conflict and tension will help elevate your writing and make your storylines more engaging.

What Is Tension in Writing?

Tension in a literary context is the sense that something ominous is right around the corner. Building a large amount of tension as a writer keeps your readers engaged up until the end of the story. Mystery novels are full of tension and foreboding, and they generally feature tense scenes from beginning to end. Working within the genre of mystery writing is a great way to learn how to layer tension into your narrative arc. Good use of tension makes a story worth reading and keeps readers guessing.

3 Tips for Using Tension in Your Writing

Learning to build tension is no easy task. Even the most seasoned professional writers have trouble maintaining tension from beginning to end. Here are a few tips for using tension successfully in your writing:

Foreshadowing: An important part of building tension is using foreshadowing to build dramatic tension and keep readers on the edges of their seats. In Harry Potter, author J.K. Rowling uses flashbacks and backstory to foreshadow the eventual major conflict that will unfold between Harry Potter and the villainous Voldemort.

Inner conflict: Sometimes inner conflict and self-doubt can be layered in through character development and used to build levels of tension. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character wants to avenge his father’s death but is beset by self-doubt, paralyzing indecision, and mental strain. As an audience, there is a sense of tension in every scene as we wait to see if Hamlet will act on his inner desire for retribution or remain stuck in a place of indecision.

A time limit: One great way to build tension in your story is to place a time limit on an action your character has to undertake. By adding the element of a ticking clock, you build tension and increase stakes. This is a common technique used in thriller novels and films as well as action and adventure stories.

What Are the Differences Between Conflict and Tension?

While tension simmers under the surface, conflict is generally out in the open—it's tension realized. Tension might be present an unspoken rivalry between the protagonist and antagonist or in the audience’s awareness of an impending disaster.

Conflict, on the other hand, involves an active clash; maybe the protagonist and the antagonist engage in a firefight or a heated debate, or maybe a character fights off a pack of animals or works to prevent climate catastrophe. Even if the conflict is interior—a character battling low self-worth, perhaps—it still involves opposing forces struggling for supremacy.

What Is Conflict in Writing?

Conflict can come in many forms. Conflict in a story can be a physical fistfight or a passive-aggressive war of words. All that is required for conflict is a manifestation of disagreement or incompatibility between a character and something else. Characters can be in conflict with other characters, with natural forces, or with society at large.

Another type of conflict is internal conflict. Conflict is one of the fundamental principles of narrative and creative writing. In order to write a story worth reading, you need characters whose point of view is in some way challenged and to whom bad things happen. Without conflict, you won’t have a narrative or any meaningful character arc.

4 Types of Conflict and Tips for Using Them in Your Writing

The kind of conflict you use depends on what your plot and subplots are centered around and what your main character wants and needs. New plot points generally introduce conflict or advance existing conflict. Here are some types of conflict to employ in your writing and a few tips about when and how you migh

Person vs. self: An internal conflict is a kind of conflict that only manifests within a character’s head. Though we may see this conflict dramatized through narration or dialogue, or play out in the protagonist’s actions, it is an internal struggle within a character.

Person vs. person: The simplest and most common form of external conflict is when two characters are in conflict with each other. The first stories we are told as kids generally have a clear good guy and bad guy. These stories are early introductions to person vs. person conflict. Person vs. person conflicts are very common, and it’s rare to find a narrative without an interpersonal conflict present at some point in the story.

Person vs. nature: Conflict between a person and forces of nature is a good example of external struggle that can raise the stakes in a story. Some notable stories that included conflict between a person and a natural force include The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Consider using person vs. nature conflict if you’re interested in writing a story with one main character and few, if any, supporting characters.

Person vs. society: Conflict between a person and society at large is a type of conflict often found in science fiction. Some notable examples of this type of conflict are found in The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games series. In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen finds herself contending with a dystopian and oppressive United States government that pits citizen against citizen in order to keep dissent down and quell rebellion. If you’re interested in science fiction or narratives about social justice, you might want to consider exploring conflicts that pit an individual character against society at large.

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writing writing advice not a fandom not a fandom post writing difference

On Love Languages

Reference: https://5lovelanguages.com/learn

For me, og!Cale’s love language is Acts of Service. The website defines this as: For these people, actions speak louder than words. I think it fits Og!cale very well since we all know he pretended to be trash without even saying anything to anyone. He also hid his hurts and isolated himself because he foolishly thinks it was for the best while swallowing his issues thinking that he was being selfish. Of course, he also swallowed his further hurts when the Molan duo decided to follow Choi Han. I think for people like og!Cale (and like me) with this type of love language, what was needed the most is Quality Time (def: This language is all about giving the other person your undivided attention.) and Words of Affirmation (def: this language uses words to affirm other people.) from people who claim to care and love him. I think Quality Time with Deruth suffered ever since his mom died because Deruth and og!Cale was in two different places. Deruth was having a new leash of happiness and og!Cale (I’m assuming) is still grieving and also has to contend with the fact that Deruth has a new family. Plus, Deruth has to blend his family and I’m not sure he did a good job at that.

Anyway. Words of Affirmation are a bit tricky since (for me) that would be like enabling his ‘trash’ person but I would have expected some one-on-one talks with his father (and initiated by Deruth like yo, be a parent) would not be too much to ask/expect. (I don’t know if that happened in canon so let me know if I'm talking out of my rear). I definitely won't mind an intervention because I’m a believer in either solving the problem or they all go no contact since everyone isn’t on the same page. Either stop the misunderstanding right there or suffer the effects of misunderstanding together. Misery does love company even in families.

I am sure that Deruth and Violan have tried, but the only thing that gives me a good picture of that effort is to support Og!cale while he is being purposely self-destructive (I don’t know if this is a good idea) and throw money at him (something that I am way too much familiar with). Again, if there is any info I missed, I would love to be corrected.

So, what do think of og!Cale's love language? Do you think he would have been better if he has a different one aside from Acts of Service?

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redibanni

1 year ago

Sites to Help with Writing

1 - [ https://www.yourdictionary.com ] I use this site for the thesaurus, It helps to find synonyms for words so you don't repeat "said" a thousand times in your book.

2 - [ https://milanote.com ] This one is very helpful for organising your ideas with story boards, though it's partially free it has a paid version where you can get even more features. I use the free version.

3 - [ https://inkarnate.com ] This site is very popular to create maps, and for good reason. It's free version gives you all the features necessary to create maps, but the paid version gives you extra features. I use the free version.

4 - [ https://www.behindthename.com ] I use this one for names. It has a database of endless names alongside their country of origin and meaning. Very useful, though I use it to make sure the names I come up with don't end the wrong way.

5 - [ https://www.pinterest.com ] Do I even need to explain? Ideas? Here. Visualisation? Here. Everything you'll ever need? Here.

6 - [ https://quillbot.com ] Heard of it from a beloved friend. This site is useful for tone checks, grammar checks, and more. I only use it to edit.

7 - [ Google Docs ] I only use this one for writing, its free and perfectly usable.

8 - [ https://www.artbreeder.com ] This one is essential for character creation. It has many features that allows you to visualise and create portraits for your characters.

Bonus:

I use [ https://tabletopaudio.com ] for background noise while writing, because i cant focus in silence.

That's all, I hope this proves useful :)

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writing

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redibanni

2 years ago

//spoilers from chapter 662

ories = single-lifers (Choi family)

Immortals >> frequently called to solve problems in different dimensions because they do not impact other souls. (None in TCF) (PR: So far.)

Variables =

Reincarnators (White Star)

Transmigrators (Kim Rok Soo, Cale Henituse)

Regressors (Cale Henituse)

> Reincarnator: Pushes out the soul that is supposed to take a body and is born with the memories of their past life and the soul that is pushed out is born like a twin in a different dimension. The reason the White Star looks like Kim Rok Soo is because he pushed out Kim Rok Soo who was supposed to be in that body.

> Transmigrator: Pushes out a soul that has been living in a body and forces in a different soul; the soul that is pushed out has no choice but to go into the empty body of the invading soul. Basically, it causes chaos to the soul.

IM GOIN INSANE, PERHAPS WACKY, ONE MIGHT EVEN SAY CRAZY, IM LOSING MY MIND, MY MARBLES, MY BANANAS I AM FALLING OFF MY ROCKER SO TO SPEAK

CALE WAS ORIGINALLY FROM 'BIRTH OF A HERO' WORLD????? AND HE FUCKING TRANSMIGRATTED BACK???????? AND WHITE STAR IS CURRENTLY USING HIS BODY NOW???

Everytime i think i get used to all the bombs the author throws at me, something like this happens

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redibanni

1 year ago

good traits gone bad

perfectionism - never being satisfied

honesty - coming off as rude and insensitive

devotion - can turn into obsession

generosity - being taken advantage of

loyalty - can make them blind for character faults in others

being dependable - always depending on them

ambitiousness - coming off as ruthless

optimism - not being realistic

diligence - not able to bend strict rules

protectiveness - being overprotective

cautiousness - never risking anything

being determined - too focussed on one thing

persuasiveness - coming off as manipulative

tidiness - can become an obsession

being realistic - being seen as pessimistic

assertiveness - coming off as bossy

pride - not accepting help from others

innocence - being seen as naive

selflessness - not thinking about themself enough

being forgiving - not holding others accountable

curiosity - asking too much questions

persistence - being seen as annoying

being charming - can seem manipulative

modesty - not reaching for more

confidence - coming off as arrogant

wit/humor - not taking things serious

patience - being left hanging

strategic - coming off as calculated

being caring - being overbearing

tolerance - being expected to tolerate a lot

eagerness - coming off as impatient

being observant - being seen as nosy

independence - not accepting help

being considerate - forgetting about themself

fearlessness - ignoring real danger

politeness - not telling what they really think

reliability - being taken advantage of

empathy - getting overwhelmed with feeling too much for other people

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writeblr writing writing tips writing advice not a fandom

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redibanni

2 months ago

There's an actual moment in the novel in which we have Yuder literally burying two guys 6ft under because they, during a fight, accidentally broke two (2) candies Kishiar gave him.

I'm so glad he didn't overreact.

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yuder aile reasonable behavior!! imsogonnarereadturningafterthis

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redibanni

2 years ago

There Will BE No Friendship. (And Yes I'm Still Not Dead And Still Have Intents On Coming Back Here)

There will BE no friendship. (And yes I'm still not dead and still have intents on coming back here)

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deltarune kris ralsei susie jevil spamton's trashbin kris being kris oof... that gotta hurt

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redibanni

2 years ago

I want everyone’s best one liner writing advise!

Mine is that you have to know the ending of your story before you start it.

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writing tips tips writing tips that helped me throughout the day i need more motivation

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redibanni

2 years ago

Some doodles as well!!

I was reading abralhugres ' "one last death" and "I'll save you when you're weak"

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trash of the count's family tcf lcf tcf fic

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redibanni

2 years ago

I think my favorite part about the whole Toriel confronting Kris about the pie scene in the beginning of chapter 2, is that fact that Toriel isn’t the least bit concerned that Kris just owns a knife for personal use. She’s just like “ah yes my child’s knife that they keep around” which tells me that Kris has probably never once actually used the knife to be violent towards others or hurt themselves. They just like that knife and carry it around for pie eating purposes.

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deltarune kris toriel this is so sweet

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