It's taken me a while to write this up, and I have a very good reason for it!
I got a new laptop, which is great and all. Except. Except! The power button is right between my backspace button and delete button. And, as someone who overthinks everything I say and uses the backspace button more than bad boys in Wattpad novels use their smirks, it has been... an experience!
Anyways! Let's talk about pacing.
Pacing is everywhere. It's in music -- it's why most popular songs tend to have a rough time frame of three to four minutes. It's long enough to get us accustomed to the melody, but short enough to not make us sick of it (unless it's Call Me Maybe).
There is also pacing in the shows we watch, or even presidential and political speeches that address the public (in which most speeches are awfully paced, which is why I sort of maybe don't really know who my prime minister is even though he's been running my country for nearly three years).
In fact, even this chapter has pacing! While this book simply contains writing advice, rants, and fun facts about geese (did you know that geese are very loyal, and are mates for life? pay attention, ex-boyfriend. be more like geese.), it still has to have pacing. I could make all of you switch off and ignore everything I say by going on and on and on about boring contents about coffee makers and avocados, or I could go too fast and give you whiplash by tossing punctuation mark rules at you.
Pacing matters!
Think about a marathon. If you go too quick, you get too tired and exhausted to finish up. If you go too slow, and take a step once every half an hour, you... well, it'll take you years to finish. But also. This would be me in a marathon.
With writing, it can refer to a few things. On one hand, it can be about how quickly your plot progresses. However, sometimes, it can simply be about how your organise the information that is your book.
I'm going to start this chapter with some general advice. Then, after that, I'm going to categorise the rest of the chapter into two questions: "What do I do if my pace is too fast?" and "What do I do if my pace is too slow?" Hopefully, that'll make it easier to find specific advice!
Before we launch right into it, I want to say that pacing and writing style, in my opinion, are pretty intertwined! A good writing style encompasses a great sense of pacing. If you need more tips here, I would recommend giving that chapter a read (it's the one just before this one!).
Onto the chapter!
GENERAL ADVICE:
Balance.
Let's go back to the marathon. If you somehow have the bravery to sign up for one, you want to be using your whole body to run this race. It's not just your legs moving, but it's also a mental game -- you need a lot of willpower. It's a combination of both.
Willpower alone will not take you to the end, if you don't even have legs. If you've got no legs... well, I guess you can roll to the end? Like, roll like a sushi roll? But that's a lot of friction burn.
Sorry. Now I am just imagining someone lying down on the hot ground, and just rolling their way through a ten mile race. I can even hear the distinct but faded, "Wheeeeeeeeeee!"
Back to focus.
In a story, you need balance. It's not just an action game. It's an emotional one, too. Make sure you are balancing action scenes with reflective scenes, or ones that build emotional relationships instead of direct plots. It's not necessarily the frowned upon "filler" just because there's no direct action and someone isn't stabbed. As long as there is growth or purpose in some way, then it's perfectly reasonable and effective as a chapter!
Reflective chapters or chapters focused on character development are fantastic. It helps orient the reader, or process any of their decisions.
Building Blocks.
And no, I'm not talking about Lego. Unless you really want me to.
My favourite Lego building is this kickass monster truck I made when I was twelve.
There.
Happy?
Anyways, so it comes down to each individual word you write. Then, this changes your sentence structure, overall. For example:
She walked to the other side of the room, where the wooden door, framed with purple onion rings because that's a cool design, stared back at her.
There's that. Or there's:
She waddled to the onion ring door.
Completely different structures, and they lead to a complete different pace.
Then, paragraphs!
At first, Cushions thought Blanket would be okay.
Then, she saw the blood.
It was red and sloshy, falling onto the carpet. Streaming down, down, down the cotton surface, and coating the vase of flowers in bright green. Because, even though I said the blood was red literally two sentences ago, I got bored and changed it to green.
Sue me.
Consider that, and then consider:
At first, Cushions thought Blanket would be okay. Then, she saw the blood. It was red and sloshy, falling onto the carpet. Streaming down, down, down the cotton surface, and coating the vase of flowers in bright green. Because, even though I said the blood was red literally two sentences ago, I got bored and changed it to green. Sue me.
Then, chapter lengths!
Notice that I'm not saying that some things are 'right' or 'wrong'. Because there is no right or wrong, really. It all depends on the mood you want to set, and what you think is the most effective for the context of your story.
Similarly, there isn't really such thing as 'a perfect chapter length'. Some stories have 1,000 word chapters. Some stories have 5,000 word chapters. Some have 4 word chapters. However, as long as they have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and keep your reader engaged, you're good to go!
If you think your pace is going a bit awry, then look at your building blocks. Go right down to the word level. Shape them accordingly.
Purpose.
Which scenes are you fleshing out?
Do we need to see him walk into the flower shop, pay $50 for a bouquet of roses, smell them, get his $3.74 change, ask the shopkeeper about the weather and the robot apocalypse, and then leave the building?
Or would it be better to just show him rocking up to the hospital, with roses, that we can safely assume he had bought after dipping down to a florist shop?
Experiment.
Give your story a fresh look!
For example, we know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. However, what if the story started at a new place -- what if, to instantly speed up the pace and hook the reader, the first scene was both the tortoise and the hare being a single inch away from the finishing line? Then jump back to how it ended up that way?
Reimagine your story! Be playful with how you show the events.
Read. Edit. Read. Edit. Read. Edit.
And then get someone else to read, review, and edit it.
WHAT IF I'M MOVING TOO FAST?
Slow down, babe! This isn't an arranged marriage! It's a story!
Well, it's Wattpad. It probably involves an arranged marriage at some point.
If you're going too fast, consider the following:
- Do you have enough description within the story, to orient the reader and make them feel adjusted to the story? Do they have enough to envision the scene?
- Do you have subplots, with more than a singular purpose within the story? Should you consider adding more? For example, if the story is about retrieving the key from a tower, does the protagonist just rock up to the tower, get the key, and that's it? Or are there relationships they need to build, development they need to undergo, and obstacles in their way?
- Do you have any introspection within your story? Moments of thoughtfulness or emotional development between characters and within themselves?
- Have you considered introducing backstory in some way, shape or form, to make the protagonist's goals and values make sense?
- Are your sentences too short?
- Are you showing instead of telling? [I have a chapter on this!]
- Are you jumping around too much? Are we going to six different settings in a single sentence? Are too many things happening at once?
- How focused is your voice?
WHAT IF I'M MOVING TOO SLOW?
Ugh. This pacing is like the... C'mon, dude. We've been going on occasional dates for six years. Please just ask me out. It's not that hard.
If you think your pacing is this frustrating person who has been married for twelve years but is too scared to say "I love you", here are some questions for you!
- Are you slowing down pivotal moments only? Or are you slowing down everything? Can some things be shown to the reader more efficiently?
- Do you have purple prose? Is your writing like this sentence, that I am writing as I longingly look at the water bound mermaids flying through the ethereal mists of the shattered dihydrogen oxide molecules crashing from the precipice above, feeling the urgent call of tomato sauce while desiring the delicious acidity of the savoury softness entering my eager digestive track?
- Do you have too many subplots going on, that the reader can't help but just... not be interested in some of them?
- Are you giving all the information to the reader straight away? Or are you smartly dangling information in front of the reader, giving them only bits at a time, and teasing them to keep them hooked?
- Have you considered using scene cuts? For example, do we need to see them leave the kitchen, or can you just start the next scene in a new place that is not the kitchen, so the reader knows that... well, they're clearly not in the kitchen anymore?
- Is your dialogue impactful? Or is there a bunch of:
"Hi."
"Hi!"
"How are you, today?"
"Pretty good. You?
"I'm good."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Have a good day!"
"You, too!"
One last thing to consider is that prolonged outcomes do not necessarily slow down the pace more. In fact, sometimes, because of the tension and suspense, it speeds up the pace, because it sends the reader into a frenzy of needing to know what happens next. So, perhaps, instead of having a bomb that explodes in three seconds, you could have a bomb that explodes in three hours, and it'll actually speed up the read due to the intensity of stopping the bomb, rather than reading about the aftermath of an explosion!
A FEW LAST THINGS TO REMEMBER:
We've spoken about the building blocks. Purpose. My cravings for tomato sauce.
However, there is also a few more things I would like you to consider!
1. Genres have different paces.
New worlds tend to have slower paces, because the reader needs to become acclimated to this unfamiliar setting. These include fantasies, historical fictions, science fictions, and more.
Stories that are more thriller based need to work quick, because we just know that someone is getting murdered every five seconds and we sort of want to stop that. Unless, you know, you're a freaky little thing who enjoys fictional characters dying. If you are one of these people... who hurt you as a child?
2. Slow pace does not mean boring.
If someone says your pace is a bit slower, that does not necessarily mean it is boring. Unless you are word vomiting a bunch of purple prose, chances are, the writing is good! It is immersive! It is totally okay to slow down the pace in some situations. These include:
- Helping the reader calm down after a lot of intensity.
- Changing relationships between characters.
- Feeling development and introspection within a character.
- Foreshadowing.
- Subtly, quietly learning new but significant information.
- Getting to know the story, the setting, and the characters. Especially if any of these are new.
3. Fast pace does not mean amazing.
I've noticed that sometimes, when I tell someone their pace is too fast, they say 'thank you!' And I'm like... no, honey. That's... that's not a good thing.
Sometimes, a fast pace is fantastic. It means that I'm flicking through the pages in eager anticipation. However, sometimes, it means that I'm overwhelmed with too much information, and confused by what is going on.
Pivotal moments to use a quicker pace include:
- Moments of quick action.
- Moments where you specifically want readers on the edge of their seat.
- To be dramatic, instead of atmospheric.
And that's all I have!
Next chapter is all about spelling errors and tips on how to catch them out! What do you folks do to help with this?
I hope everyone is doing well! As always, if you have requests on chapter topics, let me know.