Just found this on another blog: http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/10/08/infusing-microtension-in-your-novel/
"Just what is microtension? Just as the prefix suggests, it’s tension on a micro level, or in small, barely noticeable increments. Your big plot twists and reversals and surprises are macro-tension items. But microtension is achieved on a line-by-line basis.
For example, anytime a character has conflicting feelings, you have microtension. Microtension can be small, simmering, subtext, subtle. Even the choice of words or the turn of a phrase can produce microtension by its freshness or unexpected usage."
Anyone else use this in their own writing? I have always just referred to 'Associations' when describing this, but I do believe that the term 'micro-tension' describes it better.