I'm reading The Structure of Story: How to Write Great Stories by Focusing on What Really Matters by Ross Hartmann. It's excellent and I highly recommend it.
One of the core concepts in the book is that these tips & tricks we learn as writers are "tools, not rules." As someone who advocates for breaking the "rules" in writing, I love that phrasing and have decided to steal it. Tools, not rules!
With that said, let's talk about pacing. We've talked about pacing before on a more scenic level. I recommend checking out that post if you haven't already. This post looks at pacing on a more global level.
First, what is pacing? It's the speed at which story beats unfold. Some books—like thrillers—are fast-paced, whereas literary fiction tends to be slower-paced. Of course, fast-paced stories will likely have slower moments and vice versa. Both are good.
What you don't want is a story that's unevenly paced. You usually don't want a story with a ton happening at the beginning and then very little until the end.
How do you control your story's pacing?
The Structure of Story points out that you must be aware of two types of pacing: global pacing and scene pacing.
On the global story level, pacing comes from the rate at which we get new revelations or disruptions. On the scene level, the pacing is typically set by the rate at which characters change their strategy toward their scene goal. The Structure of Story, Ross Hartmann
Hartmann also recommends, generally speaking, escalating the introduction of disruptions (new challenges) and revelations (new information) as the story progresses. Meaning: more shit should be happening as you get closer to the story's climax.
Shit escalates. - Sevro Barca, Red Rising series by Pierce Brown
In between these moments of escalation, give your characters time to process and react to slow down the pacing. Again, generally speaking. Sometimes it's better to postpone the character's reaction and keep pushing forward with the action. Tools, not rules!
To recap:
Pacing is the rate at which shit escalates.
To speed up the pacing, throw disruptions and revelations at your characters.
To slow it down, have your characters process and emotionally respond to these disruptions and revelations.
In general, you want to introduce more disruptions/revelations the closer you get to the climax.
You are now a master of pacing! Go forth and write.
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