How Sensory Details Create Tension

If you are like most readers, as you read a book, a movie plays in your mind. You see the characters in action, the expressions as they speak, their bodies as they move. Even if the author hasn't described them in detail. Readers fill in the blanks when authors leave out those descriptions. They will do the same with your setting.

The difference is: Setting creates the mood and the tone and adds to your story's tension. Leaving out important details here could slow down the story and leave your readers bored or confused.

So how do you embed a strong sense of setting in your story? Sensory images.

Read this: "Archie climbed the tree to watch the game, hoping he could spot his brother."

What did we learn? Archie can climb trees

What do we want to know? Is he good? What kind of tree is it? How tall is it? What's the weather like? Will he slip?

Read this with added sensory imagery: "Archie grasped a narrow branch damp with morning dew and pulled himself up the sturdy maple, planting his barefoot into a narrow crook. Hugging the trunk and maybe three feet off the ground, he could barely see the ball field past the tangle of leaves."

Better, right? Perfect? Not yet. However, now we have a sense (punny) of the surroundings, that it gets damp in the mornings, that it IS morning, and that not only can Archie climb trees, but he can do it barefoot. I wonder if it hurts. Will he fall because it's wet?

Now, instead of trying to SEE what's happening, my focus is on the action, the character, and what will happen next.

To build that tension with your setting, create a SETTING JOURNAL. Go out into the world and use your senses to take in the surroundings. What do you hear at a playground? What do you smell in the evening? What do you see while crawling along a forest floor?

Gather sensory details to create tension with your story's setting.

I use my time kayaking to take in the natural world. So much can be learned close up and by doing.