acing is the rhythm or tempo that determines how fast or slow a story reads. It’s also what writers use in each scene to hook their readers and draw them into the emotion or mood of their characters’ experiences and into their fictional world.

My first introduction to the term pacing was when I received a critique of a writing sample that I submitted to a writers’ guild. Although I could make a vague guess, I have to admit that at the time I didn’t know what pacing actually was. Fortunately, my feedback was positive; but just as I needed to know what I was doing wrong, I also needed to know what I was doing right. And I was clueless.

My newly discovered ignorance was incentive to educate myself on writers’ terminology and what it means in terms of becoming a successful writer. So, here is a little of what I have learned...

Pacing can refer to a scene, a paragraph, or the entire novel or piece you are working on, and each one of these elements are very important to your completed project. Even if a story is good, if the pacing is off, it can bore someone to tears (too slow), leave them panting with exhaustion (too fast), or just plain confuse them. 

Pacing Your Scenes

Writing is an art; but instead of clay or paint, words are the medium that you will use to create your masterpiece. However, words alone are not the only thing that sets the tone or the mood of a scene; it is how you string those words together that will create the pace that you want to set. Just as you can’t randomly slap slabs of clay together without any thought and expect to produce something worth looking at, when it comes to developing a convincing scene, you can’t just throw words out there without considering how they will affect the pace of the scene.

When you’re working on a particular passage, think about the mood you want to convey to your reader. Is the scene more somber, more pensive? If so, then you want to slow it down. You want the reader to feel what your character feels. If your character is grieving and the scene is moving too quickly, it won’t draw your reader into the emotional distress she is experiencing and won’t seem realistic.

On the contrary, if the scene is action driven or a dramatic portion of the story, then you will want to speed it up. This will give the reader a sense of urgency, which is the emotion that you want to communicate in the more intense passages.

About now you might be asking yourself: that’s all well and good, but how do I actually go about slowing the story down or speeding it up? In answer, there are a number of techniques that are used as brakes or accelerators in writing.

“Brief, concise sentences will speed up the pacing of your scene.”

First the Accelerators:

Example one: See Jane run. Run Jane, run. See Dick catch the ball. Don’t drop the ball, Dick.

Brief, concise sentences like these will speed up the pacing of your scene. However, your sentences don’t have to be as sparse as this example. Fast paced can still be fast paced with a little detail, such as including the color of or the type of ball Dick is catching. The scene will still move quickly, just not as quickly.

Another effective way to increase your story’s pace is the use of dialogue. Dialogue naturally moves the story along faster. There is less description being used; and the discourse between the characters generates and maintains a quicker flow because in a sense, it is telling rather than showing, and showing takes time.

Using less detail and writing shorter paragraphs will also keep the story moving. These techniques keep the reader from loitering too long in any particular scene or paragraph—pushing them into the next.

“The use of internal monologue, which is essentially narrative, is another approach to slowing down the story.”

The Brakes:

Example two: See Jane run through the blossoming meadow where flamboyant, yellow snapdragons lift their heads, nodding off to sleep under the warmth of the golden sun. Run Jane, run.

Jane is still running, but we have slowed the scene and the reader down to a more temperate pace by using longer sentences and including sensory descriptive words.

Narrative also slows down the pace. Narrative is simply the telling of the story. The above examples of Dick and Jane are narrative. It is an observation and narration of the setting, the landscape, or things that are taking place in the lives of the characters that tie into the story being told.

Backstory is another form of exposition that works well to put the brakes on a rapidly moving pace. Every story has a starting point. Anything that you bring up that happened to a character prior to that starting point is considered backstory. Backstory is a character’s recollection of past events or experiences that are relevant to the tale, such as a traumatic childhood experience or a previous marriage. If done right, using this method will slow the pace down while simultaneously moving the story forward.

Finally, the use of internal monologue, which is essentially narrative, is another approach to slowing down the story. Internal monologue not only accomplishes your pacing objectives, but it also allows you to take readers inside your character’s thoughts. It is in that hallowed space that readers learn what the character is really thinking, giving them deeper insight into the character’s personality, her motives, and her desires. It shows us who she really is.

Pacing & Paragraphs

When it comes to the pacing in a well-written paragraph, it makes me think of rolling hills. You want movement and flow—not a flat monotone comprised of evenly structured sentences. To accomplish this, alternate sentence and paragraph lengths. This is what creates the rhythm.

Example of a bad paragraph: We walked down the street. The street was torn up. Construction workers were the cause. We moved to the sidewalk. The stroll was much nicer.

This passage is dull and monotonous because the lengths of the sentences are pretty much the same. There is no flow. There are no “rolling hills.”

Example of a better paragraph: We walked down the street that construction workers had torn up. When the potholes and remaining debris became too difficult to traverse, we moved to the even pavement of the sidewalk. It made for a much more pleasant stroll.

The varying lengths of the sentences in this paragraph allow the words and the sentiment behind them to flow instead of stalling and starting before and after each period.

The Whole Enchilada

Pacing also extends beyond the individual scenes and paragraphs and carries throughout the book. Remind yourself that too much narrative is a bore and will make your story drag. It is like listening to someone drone on and on. Eventually, the listener will tune out. In real life, we might be too polite to walk away from an excessive talker, but a reader will have no guilt over closing a book that doesn’t entertain. For this and other reasons, it is important to balance your use of narrative and dialogue throughout your story—using too much of neither and creatively alternating their use.

Although there are no set rules on how fast or slow a particular genre moves, certain genres do tend to keep to a similar pace. One example is Regency romance novels. These incline toward a slower pace where you take everything in little by little like a leisurely stroll through the park. Of course, there are peaks where the story climaxes and valleys where the tale gradually builds, speeding up and slowing down; but overall, the story plods along rather than races. With a suspense novel, the story usually moves at a faster rate than a Regency novel—where not only the storyline, but the pacing, brings about the desired intensity. Just as with a slower paced novel, suspense will have its peaks and valleys, but it is moved along with a little more energy.

Summary

To speed up your pace:

• Use shorter sentences.
• Use dialogue.
• Write shorter paragraphs.
• Include less detail/descriptive words in the scene.

To slow down your pace:

• Use longer sentences.
• Use more descriptive words.
• Write in narrative form.
• Use internal monologues.
• Use backstory/flashbacks.

Hearing what you have written is the best way to test the pacing. Read your work out loud. This will tell you whether or not the pacing sounds natural and if it suits the scene. Pacing is something that can be learned (or I wouldn’t be writing about it), but it is also intuitive. Don’t think too hard on it while you’re writing; just walk around in your character’s shoes, feel the mood, and your instincts will kick in.

If the pacing doesn’t sound or feel right when you assess your work, employ some of the tips included here and see if that doesn’t solve your problem. The more you write, the more you’ll grasp how you’re story should sound.

***

Writer of fact and fiction and lover of ideas, Julie Momyer has published several articles on a variety of subjects. She is the author of, 2010-2011 Inventor's Market: Where to Sell or License Your Ideas, Products & Inventions, a directory of manufacturers for anyone with a great idea. Her first novel, Kiss Me Awake, was a finalist in CWG's first novelist contest, for which she is currently seeking publication. She also shares ownership of Claude & Monique, designer handbags by Brit, with her daughter. You can find out more about Julie by visiting her website http://wheretosellyourideas.com and her blog http://claudeandmonique.blogspot.com/.

-----

Enjoyed this article? Check out these related articles on WOW!:

Pacing

How to Make Dialogue Tags Work for Your Story

Tips for Making Dialogue Stronger

Creating Scenes: Fiction's Building Blocks

Backstory: Relevant Information or an Inconsequential Event?

Where Are We? Using Setting & Description in Creative, Yet Crucial Ways