What makes you feel tense in a story?

I’m curious as to what really makes you guys feel anxious/agitated/tense in a story whether that’d be sense of danger, relationship dramas or just a technique that authors use such as cliffhangers. I’d really like to see you guys share your experience as this’ll give me some ideas for my story! Feel free to also include what makes you feel excited in a story.

I just hate how petty a character can be.

Sorry, I mean, what makes you feel nervous in a story. .

What makes me feel nervous is if the character is about to die

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When the character does something really stupid and gets caught :woman_facepalming:t3:

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a cliff hanger or when somethiing really bad happens and there is intenese music in the bg.

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THIS LOL​:joy::rofl::sweat_smile::yum::laughing:

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:joy:

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Probably when a character and the LI are in the same room and people keep saying things

Or when there’s a party and they play T or D

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When I make a bad/negative choice and the reader message is like;

Love interest’s name will remember this.

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Definitely me haha, the I replay to get everything correct.

When the CHOICES MATTER IN THIS STORY Splash or message comes up, I feel weird and tense up, especially when the story is in Horror/Mystery/Thriller Genre.

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Can definitely relate haha, like The Ruby Tiara right? :smile:

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^ This.

Timed choices always set me on edge, because I don’t read very fast. The moment I see the time icon it’s “o heck o heck o heck!”

One more thing that happens rarely: With 95% of authors, I trust them. I know that when they put their MC in danger, that everything is going to be alright, so I don’t get very tense. But there are some authors who I don’t trust, and their cliffhangers have me on the edge of my seat. When I don’t trust an author, that makes the story more intense lol. Idk exactly how authors lose my trust, sometimes it depends on their other works, or if I find they have a tendency to leave arcs at bittersweet or unsatisfying conclusions. :woman_shrugging:

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So I’m guessing cliffhangers for you is a negative experience? Haha

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Lol idk, I don’t hate a story for them, and I kinda respect an author who can make me feel something on a cliffhanger lol. :joy: Some of my favourite authors are ones I don’t trust, because their stories feel more real. :relaxed:

Aside: I hate cliffhangers in irl books, though. The whole point of the end of a chapter is so I have a concrete place to put the book down. I bought your entire book, ending a chapter with a cliffhanger won’t make me buy the next chapter. All it does is ruin your chapter endings, so I have to stop reading in the middle of a chapter, forget which line I’m on, spend 2 minutes finding my place, get pissed off… (whinecomplain) End-of-book cliffhangers, yes. End-of-chapter cliffhangers, get lost.

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