Example Of Tension

Think of a movie thriller in which you’re aware, but the heroine is not, that danger lurks in the cellar. As she heads toward the steps, you feel escalating tension because she is walking toward danger. If you didn’t know that the bad guy was in the basement, she would just be a girl heading down some stairs. Without tension, a story feels flat; you don’t care one way or the other about the outcome

Weather, illness, war, self-doubt, inexperience, hubris—all of these can pose obstacles as your protagonist strives to achieve his or her goal. And just as it can be useful to tell a complex story.