Great erotica depends on sexual tension, and nobody is better at crafting that kind of tension (and release) than C. S. Pacat.
The Australian author, best known for the Captive Prince Trilogy, advises that tension has to be created and then sustained. Keeping tension sustained is definitely more difficult.
The series centers on the political turmoil between two kingdoms, and the personal relationship between Prince Laurent and his slave Damen, a former heir to the throne, is wrought with tension. Pacat self-published the first book in the series online, which proved commercially successful and was then picked up by Penguin Random House.
To help all the aspiring writers in our community, we’ve collected some of her incredibly practical writing advice.
Build Opposing Forces into Characters
Opposites attract and set tension in motion. Pacat points out that classic character archetypes set against each help generate continuous build push and pull. “The rule follower and the loose cannon, the fighter and the scholar, the Machiavel and the Alexander slicing through the Gordian knot. The hero and the villain,” she explains.
Draw Boundaries
By setting parameters, you give your audience a hint at what will happen when these barriers are broken. This can be established through dialog, such as writing something like, “If you touch me, I’ll kill you.” “Tension is created because a clear boundary has been set, as well as clear stakes–life and death, but also pride, if the character backs down.”
Sustain Tension
Don’t burn the tension too early or you’ll run out of things to write. Pacat advises asking yourself if you can play a moment later or if it has to happen right at this moment in the story. “If the answer is yes, then I reserve the moment for later. If the answer is no, then I know that I’ve found the right moment to play the note,” she reflects.
Avoid Emotional Repetition
Be conscious of how emotional tension is played, because it loses its luster every time you the same emotions play out. “The second time the emotional note is played it will lack the tension of the first, a reheated dinner,” says Pacat, who reveals that this is often why love triangles, in which a character repeats the same emotional scenes with two different paramours, often fall flat.
Break the Tension
Pacat defines the three biggest tension-killers as: 1) collapsing one of the opposing forces 2) catharsis, and 3) repetition. “Cathartic acts, such as violence or sex, will let all the tension out of the scene–or even the story–unless you manage to hold the emotion back, somehow, during those scenes,” she explains.
Make the Writing a Boundary
Word choice is important so establish boundaries with both the words that you use and those you don’t use. “’I’ll kill you,’ he said steadily is more tense than, ‘I’ll kill you,’ he screamed wildly, because the word choice restrains the (obviously) strident emotional content. Calm, strapped-down language acts as a force restraining the force of the emotion, creating tension.”