Be a Better Writer--PACING
Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 9:50 am
Les Miserables is considered by many people to be one of the greatest novels of all time. However, in its English translation, it has over 1,500 pages, and many lengthy descriptive passages are dedicated to such subjects as the sewer systems of Paris and the lives of cloistered nuns. Such a novel would probably never be published today; our world is so much faster-paced than that of Victor Hugo’s Paris in 1862.
However, even though contemporary writing is paced much differently than such classics as Les Miserables or Pride and Prejudice, it is important for skilled writers to be able to pace their writing appropriately.
Most of what I’ll suggest here will apply to fiction, but I hope you’ll find ways to apply the suggestions to nonfiction as well.
I’ll start with an easy way to gauge the pacing of something you’ve written—take a quick visual scan. The more white space, the quicker the pacing (because white space usually indicates that there’s a lot of dialogue and shorter paragraphs). If your story is of a genre that requires action (adventure, humor, sci-fi or fantasy, for example) and you have huge blocks of print, you might want to take a look at the bulleted list below of ways to pick up the pace. On the other hand, if you’ve got lots and lots of white space and your genre is one that requires more description or introspection (romance or history, for example), you might want to take a look at the list for ways to slow down the pace.
Tips for Picking Up the Pace:
• Avoid big blocks of speech (unless it’s important that a particular character be long-winded). If you were to transcribe typical conversations, especially casual conversations among people who know each other well, you’d find lots of short utterances and fragments. Very few people speak in entire paragraphs.
• Give your characters more things to do. Long conversations, internal monologues, and passages of description should be broken up by actions. However, give your characters meaningful actions—those actions should either assist in characterization or advance the plot. Don’t have your characters tie their shoes or adjust a picture on the wall just for the sake of action.
• Flip the advice I just gave you—if there are long passages of action, break them up with dialogue. The same advice about meaningfulness applies; don’t have your characters talk merely for the sake of talking. Dialogue, like action, should assist in characterization or advance the plot.
• Take a look at both sentence structure and paragraph structure. Recently I was tutoring a young woman for whom English was her second language, and she asked me, “How many sentences are in a paragraph?” She was surprised when I told her that a paragraph could have only one sentence—maybe you are, too. What’s more, sentences can have only one word, if you wish. Shorter sentences and paragraphs will quicken the pace of your writing; consider using some intentional sentence fragments.
• Do quick changes of scenes—think slide show.
• Be willing to do some surgery on your piece. Take a look at it for things that can be deleted, and snip, snip, snip. This might be a good time to review the lesson on tight writing. The tighter the writing, the quicker the pace.
Tips for Slowing Down the Pace:
• Increase the lengths of sentences and paragraphs.
• Linger for a while on a scene, taking the time to describe a few details. If you’re doing this, be sure to appeal to all the senses, not just the sense of sight. Include senses like temperature perception, motion, and hunger or thirst or other bodily sensations. These descriptions don’t need to be in long paragraphs of purple prose; they can occur as your characters are doing things.
• Give your character some time to dwell on her circumstances.
• Oh, go ahead—add some adjectives and adverbs. You know you’ve been wanting to.
Here’s an example of a Writing Challenge entry with quick pacing:
Missy’s Got it Covered
And here’s one with a much slower pace:
Forgiveness
HOMEWORK:
I’m going to give you two very short stories—one with quick pacing, one slower. Your challenge: take one (or both) of the paragraphs, and rewrite it the other way.
1. The gal at the ticket counter was checking her phone for messages when Dee walked up, wanting to buy a ticket. “Where to, ma’am?” she said.
“Duluth. I’m going to Duluth, Minnesota.”
“Round trip?”
“No.” Dee cleared her throat, then said it a second time, louder. “No, I want a one-way ticket, please.”
Who buys a one-way ticket to Minnesota? thought the ticket agent. Poor lady. Homely, too.
She didn’t see that Dee was bouncing on the balls of her feet, or the pulse that beat rapidly in her throat. She didn’t see the bundle of letters in Dee’s purse.
2. Jane goes to the beach after the gaudy display of sunset has faded. She prefers the deepening sky, the long shadows of scrubby vegetation, the breath of waves on the shore. A blanket is in her bag, and a few ripe plums. She looks out on the water for a long time, mostly not thinking at all. There is a sort of bliss to her oblivion. After a while, she gathers the blanket around her shoulders and rests her head on the sand. She’s awakened later by a susurration near her face: thousands of tiny sea turtles, flailing toward home.
After you’ve done that (or attempted it), post your new paragraph here, if you wish. A few questions:
1. Why do you think the pacing worked (or did not work) for each of the micro-stories?
2. How did the change in pacing also change the mood or tone of the story you edited?
3. Do you have anything to add to this lesson from your own experience? Feel free to link to one story of your own for which the pacing was an important element.
Alternate homework:
Write a passage of your own (no more than 200 words, please) with pacing that fits the content. Post it here for comments.
As always, I welcome your suggestions for future classes.
However, even though contemporary writing is paced much differently than such classics as Les Miserables or Pride and Prejudice, it is important for skilled writers to be able to pace their writing appropriately.
Most of what I’ll suggest here will apply to fiction, but I hope you’ll find ways to apply the suggestions to nonfiction as well.
I’ll start with an easy way to gauge the pacing of something you’ve written—take a quick visual scan. The more white space, the quicker the pacing (because white space usually indicates that there’s a lot of dialogue and shorter paragraphs). If your story is of a genre that requires action (adventure, humor, sci-fi or fantasy, for example) and you have huge blocks of print, you might want to take a look at the bulleted list below of ways to pick up the pace. On the other hand, if you’ve got lots and lots of white space and your genre is one that requires more description or introspection (romance or history, for example), you might want to take a look at the list for ways to slow down the pace.
Tips for Picking Up the Pace:
• Avoid big blocks of speech (unless it’s important that a particular character be long-winded). If you were to transcribe typical conversations, especially casual conversations among people who know each other well, you’d find lots of short utterances and fragments. Very few people speak in entire paragraphs.
• Give your characters more things to do. Long conversations, internal monologues, and passages of description should be broken up by actions. However, give your characters meaningful actions—those actions should either assist in characterization or advance the plot. Don’t have your characters tie their shoes or adjust a picture on the wall just for the sake of action.
• Flip the advice I just gave you—if there are long passages of action, break them up with dialogue. The same advice about meaningfulness applies; don’t have your characters talk merely for the sake of talking. Dialogue, like action, should assist in characterization or advance the plot.
• Take a look at both sentence structure and paragraph structure. Recently I was tutoring a young woman for whom English was her second language, and she asked me, “How many sentences are in a paragraph?” She was surprised when I told her that a paragraph could have only one sentence—maybe you are, too. What’s more, sentences can have only one word, if you wish. Shorter sentences and paragraphs will quicken the pace of your writing; consider using some intentional sentence fragments.
• Do quick changes of scenes—think slide show.
• Be willing to do some surgery on your piece. Take a look at it for things that can be deleted, and snip, snip, snip. This might be a good time to review the lesson on tight writing. The tighter the writing, the quicker the pace.
Tips for Slowing Down the Pace:
• Increase the lengths of sentences and paragraphs.
• Linger for a while on a scene, taking the time to describe a few details. If you’re doing this, be sure to appeal to all the senses, not just the sense of sight. Include senses like temperature perception, motion, and hunger or thirst or other bodily sensations. These descriptions don’t need to be in long paragraphs of purple prose; they can occur as your characters are doing things.
• Give your character some time to dwell on her circumstances.
• Oh, go ahead—add some adjectives and adverbs. You know you’ve been wanting to.
Here’s an example of a Writing Challenge entry with quick pacing:
Missy’s Got it Covered
And here’s one with a much slower pace:
Forgiveness
HOMEWORK:
I’m going to give you two very short stories—one with quick pacing, one slower. Your challenge: take one (or both) of the paragraphs, and rewrite it the other way.
1. The gal at the ticket counter was checking her phone for messages when Dee walked up, wanting to buy a ticket. “Where to, ma’am?” she said.
“Duluth. I’m going to Duluth, Minnesota.”
“Round trip?”
“No.” Dee cleared her throat, then said it a second time, louder. “No, I want a one-way ticket, please.”
Who buys a one-way ticket to Minnesota? thought the ticket agent. Poor lady. Homely, too.
She didn’t see that Dee was bouncing on the balls of her feet, or the pulse that beat rapidly in her throat. She didn’t see the bundle of letters in Dee’s purse.
2. Jane goes to the beach after the gaudy display of sunset has faded. She prefers the deepening sky, the long shadows of scrubby vegetation, the breath of waves on the shore. A blanket is in her bag, and a few ripe plums. She looks out on the water for a long time, mostly not thinking at all. There is a sort of bliss to her oblivion. After a while, she gathers the blanket around her shoulders and rests her head on the sand. She’s awakened later by a susurration near her face: thousands of tiny sea turtles, flailing toward home.
After you’ve done that (or attempted it), post your new paragraph here, if you wish. A few questions:
1. Why do you think the pacing worked (or did not work) for each of the micro-stories?
2. How did the change in pacing also change the mood or tone of the story you edited?
3. Do you have anything to add to this lesson from your own experience? Feel free to link to one story of your own for which the pacing was an important element.
Alternate homework:
Write a passage of your own (no more than 200 words, please) with pacing that fits the content. Post it here for comments.
As always, I welcome your suggestions for future classes.