This Small Trick Keeps Tension Alive
Segun Iwasanmi@iwasanmisegun212159
18 days ago
© Segun Iwasanmi
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There's a way some people tell stories that will just tire you, not because the story is bad, but because they start from when they woke up, what they ate, how they wore slippers, before they finally reach the actual point.
I remember one guy like that. You'd ask him, "What happened?" and he'd begin from two days ago. Meanwhile, the real gist is what happened few minutes ago. . By the time he gets there, you've already checked your phone twice and started planning your exit.
That same thing shows up in scripts a lot. Scenes that take time to enter, like they're knocking first, waiting to be invited in, when the real action is already inside waiting.
And once the moment has landed, instead of stepping away, the scene stays, explaining, repeating. Squeezing the life out of something that was already clear. It's like someone landed a really good joke, then turned around and explained why it was funny. You and I will go quiet for the wrong reason.
That's how tension dies, when it stays too much.
The way I learnt this was simple, but not easy at first. I learnt it by analyzing Funke Akindele's movies, then I stopped entering scenes from the beginning. I start writing scripts from where something is already about to happen, or already happening. I also earned to leave before the scene finishes talking. Before everything is explained. Before the characters become too aware of what just happened.
It feels uncomfortable at first, like you're cutting something short. But that small space you leave behind, that's where the audience leans in. That gap is not emptiness.
Even in real life, the memorable memories you have that stay were are not the ones that were over-explained. It's the ones that ended with suspense.
When I work on a script and I reach a scene like this, I don't just flag it and move on. I sit there with it. I read it out loud sometimes, because your ears catch what your eyes excuse. And usually, the problem is not the writing itself. It's the timing. The scene arrived too early or stayed too late, and just that can make the whole thing feel flat even when the idea underneath is solid.
The honest truth is that most writers can feel when something is off. But feeling it and knowing what to do about it are two different rooms. Sometimes you just need someone who has been inside enough scripts to walk straight to the problem without disturbing everything else around it.
© Segun Iwasanmi | ™The Man With The Story.
Book Writer | Screen and Scriptwriter | Creative Fiction Writer | Book Editor.
I help people turn rough ideas into bold stories that work
