What is pacing?

 

What you may well ask, is pacing?

It can refer to the rhythm of the novel, the rate the reader reads, the speed at which events take place in the story. Usually, it refers to the latter.

What speeds up the pace? Dialogue. Every good book begins with the protagonist wanting something.

S/he might not know what it is s/he wants on page one, but s/he had better have found out by page 30, and 20 would be even better. Everything that follows should lead to the achievement of that goal. Other characters have their own particular goals, which often prove to be obstacles to the protagonist.

If there are two conflicting goals for the same character, then the battle is within that character. Each goals is a plot arc. The main arc should open at the beginning of the story and close at the climax. Smaller arcs can open and close along the way and stay relevant to the particular character by showing their motivation, agency and desire.

Pacing, therefore, refers to the length of time between moments of conflict.

Curses on Ugg and Laboutin

Blackhead beach

I checked my spam folder on my blog yesterday, and found 5,000+ spam messages had come in since I relaxed the ability to comment on my blog a few days ago. Whah! Not good. Took me ages to delete them all, and I cursed Ugg Boots and Laboutin shoes all the time I did it as they seem to be the culprits. Since I think fashion shoes are ridiculous at the moment – and most of the time, when I think about it – I cannot see why they’ve latched on to me. A less fashionably shod person you could not hope to find! So I’m very sorry but the filters are going back on the comments facility.

I wrote a chapter of my wip last week, and was very pleased with it, but on the whole I think I shall need to trim this story down by a considerable amount. Matho vol 3 is meandering all over the place, and do you know why? It’s because the premise I began with is too vague. I knew what the story problem was going to be, but not how to solve it. I assumed that would come to me as I wrote the story out. I imagines it would filter through the brain cells as I wrote...you know the kind of thing.  Well, let me ‘fess up – I’m still no wiser as to how the problem is going to be solved. Will there ever be a finale? A climax? A resolution? Who knows – not I.

beach boy

It is an object lesson for me – in future I must have an outline plot before I begin writing. Without it, I found the creative bit couldn’t flow as easily, mostly because I didn’t know where I was going, and had no direction. So though I must force myself to think up a suitable ending, I know I‘ll have loads of work waiting for me when I go back on a second edit.

It’s lucky for me that my other story, Victorian Beauty, is coming along much better. Otherwise I might just give up and decide to go on a round the world cruise.