Monday, August 29, 2016

What's Pacing?


“Pacing is the heartbeat of your story. It’s the rhythm that keeps your narrative on track, scene after scene.”[1]

Many people said after reading An Unexpected Death, “I couldn’t put it down.” That told me somehow I got the pacing right. It’s the pace that keeps the story moving, and keeps readers turning pages. So how did I do that?

I kept the chapters short.  I tried to have a strong first sentence and a strong last sentence with just enough description in between kept the story moving. 

Think of your story as having hills and valleys. As you ramp up the tension with conflicts, so too do you need to provide your readers some relief from that stress.

Paragraphs should be kept short and not bog down in the middle. When forming sentences watch for excess baggage – information that is not needed. Look for unnecessary words and phrases, and get rid of them. Make every word work!


[1] Pereira, Gabriela. “Climax and Conclusion,” Writer’s Digest, October 2016, p. 54.

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