By:
Jake Kerr
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In
writing terms, pacing means how quickly the reader perceives things as
happening in a story. This is different from rhythm, which is more about how
the reader perceives something as “sounding” as they read it. Pacing is most
often discussed at the narrative level—the pace of a chapter and a novel as a
whole.
Pacing,
like any other tool in the writer’s toolbox, has no definitive correct or
incorrect usage—just the RIGHT usage. It all depends on the author’s intent and
the reader experience. The King of Elfland’s Daughter is a very slowly paced
novel, but that does not mean it is weaker than a brisk fantasy like The Hunger
Games.
While
pacing itself is not right or wrong, its execution can be. Parts of a novel (or
even the whole thing) can be paced too fast or too slow. Let’s look at some
common problems:
“This
book starts out too slow.”
This
is a common pacing problem and can be due to one or more problems. Probably the
most common reason for a slow start is that the narrative tension is introduced
too late. This can be countered by the introduction of interesting characters
who are engaging in and of themselves, but interesting characters only buy you
so much time. Eventually you’ll need to get to the conflict that drives the
plot. Take too long and you get pacing complaints.
Solutions
here generally involve either introducing the conflict of the novel quicker
within the scenes you already have or just starting later in the book. It is
not uncommon for chapter three in my first draft to end up as chapter one in
the final draft.
As
I mentioned, another solution is to just make those earlier chapters more
interesting, with vibrant characters and atmosphere. Note that this can
actually make the problem worse. Adding lots of description to a slow chapter
doesn’t exactly make it move quicker. So be careful.
“This
section of the book is sooooo slow.”
. .
.
Read the full article HERE!
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