As writers, we want to provide our readers with the greatest emotional experience possible. One way that comes about is getting the pacing of the story right. With the following, author Winnie Griggs provides tips to help you understand and achieve that pacing. -- Sandy
Winnie: Pacing is both the speed at which your reader moves
through the story and the speed with which your story unfolds. The key thing the writer must understand is
that pacing isn’t measured in actions or events, but in the emotional
investment the reader has in how your story unfolds.
When done well, pacing strikes a balance between
heart-pounding action and more thoughtful, cerebral scenes. That’s right - even though we’ve all heard
that the faster the pace the better, that today’s reader has a shorter
attention span, that doesn’t mean that you want breakneck, adrenaline-pumping
action in every scene.
In fact, there are certain scenes that have enormous
emotional payout for your reader and these are scenes you definitely do NOT
want to hurry through, that you want to give depth and texture and sensory
richness to.
In a romance these would
include, among others:
·
The First
meeting/inciting incident
·
The First Kiss
·
The first love
scene (if your book includes one)
·
The realization
of being in love (for each the hero and the heroine)
·
The revelation of
major backstory/motivating events that informs your protagonist(s)
·
The black moment
·
The happily ever
after resolution
These are scenes that readers
look forward to. They are the emotional
lynchpins that, when done well, can propel a book to ‘keeper shelf’
status. Make certain you take time to
bathe your reader in whatever emotions are applicable - jubilation, hope,
sizzle, despair, poignancy, rage, commitment, etc.
Since these are scenes your
reader anticipates, she won’t mind a slower pace here. In fact, be careful not to rush through them,
or worse yet, transition over them. However,
this doesn’t mean you want to drag things out unbearably. Take time to focus on the emotions your
characters are feeling, and the details that enhance these emotions, as well as
those you want your reader to feel (not always the same), and then move on. To
do this you need to draw on every writing tool at your disposal, including your
writer’s “inner ear”.
As for the mechanics, there
are several ways to control the pacing of your scenes.
- Through inclusion or exclusion of detail. Passages that are lush with imagery and description slow the reader down as she tries to visualize and appreciate the picture you’re painting. On the other hand, in a high-voltage action scene, your detail should be spare and delivered in staccato bursts.
- Through use of dialog and the way in which it’s delivered. The energy and emotion of the conversation will seep into the reader, subconsciously adding to the tension or calmness of the pace.
- Manipulation of story time. To move the story along, compress all those days and weeks when nothing significant happens into a short transition.
Remember, pacing is about
piquing and holding your reader’s interest. As the author, it’s your job to manipulate pace and story time in order
to keep the reader engaged.
Is story pacing something you've had to learn, or have you found it fairly intuitive?
~~~~~~~
Winnie
Griggs is the multi-published, award-winning author of Historical (and
occasionally Contemporary) romances that focus on Small Towns, Big Hearts,
Amazing Grace. She’s published twenty-two
books since her debut in 2001 and is contracted to do two more in the next
year.
Winnie grew up in
south Louisiana
in an area her friends thought of as the back of beyond. She and her siblings spent many an hour
exploring the overgrown land around her home, cutting jungle trails, building
forts and frontier camps, and looking for pirate ships on the nearby
bayou. Along the way, she began
capturing those wonderful adventures in the pages of her notebooks. Nowadays, Winnie feels blessed to be able to
share her stories with readers through her published books.
Winnie loves to hear from
readers. You can contact her via her
website www.winniegriggs.com or connect
with her on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/WinnieGriggs.Author
.
