Let's take all our tension tools and apply them in tiny ways. A big application of tension might be an argument between two characters about a course of plot-important action. Microtension might be th

In our ongoing exploration of tension, the time has come to examine conflict. It can be shaped and delivered in numerous ways, but you have to know the core conflict before you can make anybody feel t

Our continuing exploration of tension has taken us to a favorite technique: unanswered questions. Sure, this obviously applies to mysteries, but consider the question posed in romances: will they get

Our deconstruction and categorization of tension continues this week with an exploration of Juxtaposition, which is a contrast between two elements that supplies tension by allowing the reader to inse

Last week we talked about tension, and promised that we'd be breaking it down into more pieces. This week we're discussing one of those pieces: Anticipation. We sub-divided it as follows: Surprise

For the next several episodes we'll be talking about tension. That may seem like a lot of time to spend on just one word, but as we unpack the word 'tension' in this episode you'll see that there is p

After last week's deep dive into The Spare Man we're ready to talk more generally about mysteries, and the tools we use to write them. Obviously we can't cover all of that in just one episode, but don

Spoiler Alert! This week is our deep dive into Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man.It's a sci-fi mystery novel often described as "The Thin Man in space." - Deep dive episodes are necessarily full o

Your Hosts:Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler - In this episode we interview Howard Tayler, one of the founding members of the podcast, and the creator of

Your Hosts:Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler - In this episode Howard Tayler conducts our interview with Mary Robinette Kowal, leading with a wide-open qu