Apart from workshops and classroom instruction, there's a dearth of good technical information for the aspiring author. This book looks at different types of tension, how to create and maintain dramatic tension (and how much is enough and not too much), and gives tips and written examples along with the tutorial text.
This -is- a technical writing manual, and will probably have limited interest for people who aren't writers or aspiring writers. The writing examples are clearly written and the sections encourage the reader to use the lessons on their own characters and plots. The author also cleverly uses actual excerpts from illustrative passages from other works of fiction (credited of course) to illustrate the points she's making. I was interested enough in some of the works she quotes with which I was previously unfamiliar to go and follow them up.
This is a useful guide. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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