How to create tension in your script?

The most important rule in screenwriting is that a script must create emotions. This includes everything from excitement, fear, laughter, joy, and sadness to, of course, tension.

In this article, we’ll teach you an invaluable technique for creating tension in your script, suggested by none other than Alfred Hitchcock.

More information at the bottom!

How to Create Tension in your Script?: The Bomb Under the Table

Imagine two scenarios.

Scenario One: Two people chat at a bar. Suddenly, a bomb under the table goes off. The audience experiences a few brief seconds of shock.

Scenario Two: The same two people talk at the bar, but this time, we see the bomb ticking under the table. As they carry on about family, sports, and work, they remain completely unaware of the danger. The countdown inches closer to zero. The audience’s anticipation grows as they hope the characters will notice the threat before it’s too late… until the bomb finally detonates.

In the second scenario, the audience didn’t get the short thrill of surprise—they experienced something much more powerful. They wanted to scream at the characters, to warn them of the threat, and hoped the bomb wouldn’t go off. They became involved in the story… they felt tension.

How can you apply this in you screenplay if there's no bomb in the scene?

It’s simple. You just use any obstacle or threat in the scene (every scene in your script should have at least one, but that's a topic for another day).

For example, let’s say your protagonist is a woman with a jealous boyfriend. In this scene, she’s talking to an old male high school friend she ran into at the grocery store. As she talks with her friend, you can also show her boyfriend arriving, parking his car, walking down the aisles… until he finds her. This would be equivalent to showing us the bomb's countdown reaching zero, and then exploding, and it would be far more engaging than simply showing us when he appears and starts to yell.

How to tell if your script is going on the right track?

A great way for aspiring screenwriters to gauge if they're going on the right track is to participate in screenwriting competitions. This way, they can see whether their script places and, if they win, they might even get a prize!

We host our own screenwriting competition, SPARK, where we offer a cash prize for the winner. Want to know more? Click here.

Happy writing!