Creating Conflict and Tension in MG & YA: Elana K Arnold

 

Elana K. Arnold writes books for and about children and teens. She earned her master's degree in Creative Writing from UC Davis and lives in Huntington Beach, CA, with her family and a menagerie of animals. 

Here we'll be talking about: conflict, tension, stakes, and suspense. 

Suspense is one thing that can create tension, but it's not the only thing. 

To create conflict it's important to know this question:  What does the character want, and why can't they have the thing they want? 

A good question to ask in mg and ya to tap into the internal conflict is: What is my character's wound?

Elana encourages us to get comfortable about being uncomfortable with our work. It's such a good measurement for if a scene needs work. 

Are your scenes flat? Scenes become flat if:

• the character has no clear goal
• everyone says exactly what they mean
• the outcome is predictable
• nothing changes if the character fails
• the conflict repeats without escalating 

Where does tension come from? 

• When your character has competing desire(s)
• When the character is missing necessary information
• When things go from bad to worse (escalation) 
• When the character has limited options

A great second question to ask: What else do they want that makes perusing that first desire difficult? 

A key is to avoid casual connections between scenes (and then...), instead make sure they are causal (because, therefore, but...). 

Breakout Session 4: How Tension and Conflict Drive Storytelling with Krista Marino

Krista Marino is a VP & Senior Executive Editor at Delacorte Press where she acquires and edits Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. Among her list are bestselling series, like the Maze Runner; literary gems, like Kathleen Glasgow’s Girl in Pieces; genre-bending classics, like Rory Power’s Wilder Girls; trendsetters, like Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying; and masterful works of fantasy, like Amélie Wen Zhao’s Song of Silver, Flame like Night. Whether it’s an original voice, a unique world, or a compelling plot, she’s looking for stories you can’t stop thinking about.

How Tension and Conflict Drive Storytelling

The basics:

• Conflict is the engine of plot.
• Tension is the emotional strain that keeps readers hooked. 

How Conflict Drives Tension:

1. Conflict sets opposing forces in motion--it is "a problem with resistance"

2. Tension lives in the place between want and outcome--between a character and a character's desire and whether they'll achieve it

3. Conflict raises stakes, which amplifies tension

4. Unresolved conflict sustains suspense

So...

• conflict creates friction
• friction produces uncertainty
• uncertainty + stakes = tension

Tools for building tension:

• layer conflict (external and internal)
• use secrets and silence
• raises the stakes 
• mix fast-faced conflict with slow-burn emotional tension

Now, make it more tense:

1. withhold key information (peel back in layers)

2. Use time pressure

3. Layer internal and external conflict

4. Raise the stakes in every scene

5. Exploit secrets and lies

6. Shorten scenes in high moments (pacing)

7. Trap characters together

8. End chapters on uncertainty 

Krista takes this breakout group through all of these many aspects of conflict in tension in story, uses the books above, and more. Check out the greater depth of exploration and conversation in the replays.

If you are not registered and want to view this session to hear the full content, along with the rest of the conference, register at https://www.scbwi.org/events/virtual-summer-conference-2025. Replays of the conferences will be available until September 14th, 2025.