The tension lies with the wanting. It can be a small thing: to escape an emotion, to get a cup of coffee. Every main character in the scene should want something out of the exchange in each scene: to vent, to get information, to cause trouble, to ease trouble, to find something, to lose themselves in something.
Whether or not they get it is up to you. They can get it and be satisfied, not get it and need to try again, get it and find out it wasn't what they needed or requires something further. This is how you propel the reader as they meander or speed through your story. Goals and obstacles supply the gas that keeps the story motor running.
Here are some articles on how to craft conflict to create tension.
Responses to Obstacles
The information on genre can also be found in the book Story Building Blocks The Four Layers of Conflict in ebook and print editions as well as on my website
www.dianahurwitz.com. Much of the material from my Story Building Block books is available in my blog posts and website along with free forms such as:
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