Dramatic Tension
Creating anticipation making reader want to know what happens
The five levels
Each anchor describes what separates one level from the next — not a general description of quality. This is the text the evaluator itself reads.
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Level 1 Below Standard
No tension, reader doesn't care what happens
Example Events without stakes or consequences
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Level 2 Approaching
Tension exists but doesn't grip reader
Example Stakes clear but reader doesn't feel anticipation
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Level 3 At Standard
Tension gripping reader and making them want to continue
Example Reader wonders: and what will happen?
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Level 4 Above Standard
Tension creating emotional investment in character's fate
Example Reader actually worries about character
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Level 5 Exemplary
Tension arising from within character not just events
Example Internal conflict more intense than external
Where does your own work sit on these levels?
Submit one work to be read against this criterion alone: your position across the five levels, why you are not higher and why not lower, three literal quotes from your own work, and one exercise with its success check. Your first card is free.
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Read my work by this criterionOther criteria in the same art
Building story according to: setup, confrontation, resolution
The five levels →Separating what the character outwardly pursues (want) from what they inwardly need, and the tension between them.
The five levels →Building main character with motivations, problems, and transformation
The five levels →Building external and internal conflicts that intertwine to enrich the drama
The five levels →Moments that shift the story's course and raise its stakes irreversibly
The five levels →The ending's ability to close the story and leave a lasting impression
The five levels →Does each scene turn a dramatic value (+ to − or vice versa)? A scene that changes nothing is a dead scene.
The five levels →Can you tell the speaker from their style without the name? Each character's vocabulary, rhythm, and subtext distinct.
The five levels →