Tricks to Use to Pace Your Novel
When
it comes to pacing a novel, plenty of writers are unsure how to achieve it,
especially when we think of pace to mean the speed of something. But of course, in reality the actual pace of
the novel never changes, but rather the perception of pace does, and that’s
what writers want to achieve.
Pace isn’t just about the rate at which the story is told, it’s
also a clever way of blending action, emotion, atmosphere and tension. The way to
accomplish that is to choose the right words for the right scene. Writers also
use the affectionately named 'elastic band' method - if you stretch an elastic
band, it becomes taut and tense, but if you slacken it, it becomes relaxed and
soft. This is how narrative should be, so the important elements of the story –
crisis points, action scenes and conflict scenes – are tautened, and the pace
alters to reflect that. This means the writing accelerates. Softer, reflective
scenes or gentle emotional or romantic scenes represent a slower pace (and a
slackened elastic band) and so the writing is more descriptive and full with
flourishes, which decelerates the speed of the narrative and alters the perception
of pace.
So
what tricks can writers use to increase or decrease pace?
Use the Right Words in the
Right Places
Since
it is the perception of pace you are changing, then one of the best ways to do
that is to use the right words in the right places. Every scene will be
different, so consider the kinds of words that would best serve the pace –
short, staccato words, particularly verbs like shunt, shove, snap, rip etc., shorten the entire sentence
structure, therefore shortening the time it takes the reader to read it – it
gives the perception of increasing pace.
These word structures are very good for
quickening the pace for action scenes or when you want to push the narrative
that little bit more.
The same is true if you want to slow the
pace. Longer, rounded words trick the reader into thinking the story has slowed
down – and that’s because the chosen words are designed to lengthen the reading
time, thus giving rise to the idea the pace has slowed.
These word structures are great for
decreasing the pace and allowing the reader to take a breather and reflect; great
for descriptive scenes, emotional scenes, love scenes etc.
One
word of warning here - keep away from adjectives in your sentence structures;
they don’t help the narrative and they certainly don’t help the pace.
Compare these two examples:
John
hit the button on the elevator panel, spun round to face the assailant. He
snapped a closed fist hard into the stranger’s face.The
impact rocked the man’s head and he stumbled back…
This example clearly sets a pace by using
words such as hit, spun, snapped, hard and rocked. It takes next to no time to read these paragraphs. The
brevity of the words fools the reader into thinking the momentum has increased.
John
pressed the button the elevator panel and waited. He noticed a skewed
reflection in the chrome plate, knew someone was standing just a few feet away
from him; just visible over his shoulder. He took in a controlling breath and
turned around to face the stranger, but to his relief, it was Jeff, his work
buddy, who had crept up behind him…
In this second example, the pace is neither
slowed nor quickened. The pace remains even, thanks to longer words such as pressed, skewed, reflection, visible, and controlling.
The right words in the right places make all
the difference.
Lengthen
or Shorten sentences and paragraphs.
This is another one writers use to fool the
reader. Using shorter sentences or paragraphs tends to quicken the pace, while
using longer paragraphs with more description and detail obviously decreases
pace.
Again, the same principal applies as using
the right words.
Lengthen
or Shorten Chapters
The same rule applies. Shorter chapters fool
the reader into thinking things are moving along quickly, while longer chapters
tend to make the reader think the pace has decreased.
Use
of Dialogue
Even dialogue can help give the impression
things are either moving quickly or slowing down. That’s because it words
exactly the same way as using the right word structures. In other words, short,
snappy dialogue helps to quicken the pace, especially when combined with short,
tight action scenes.
Conversely, you can also slow things down a
little with use of longer sections of dialogue between characters.
Jump
Scenes
This one is less well known, but still another
way to alter pace and speed things up.
The writer jumps to new scenes – in other
words, going from one scene to another in a short space of time gives
the impression that things are moving quickly. That doesn’t mean you can do
this all through the novel, because too much use has the opposite effect - it
confuses or disorientates the reader.
Jump to different scenes only when the pace
dictates, especially if you are pushing the story forward with two or three key
characters.
Another
trick – this one slows the pace – is to concentrate for a short while on your
main character, with emotions or inner dialogue and description based around them and
their
thoughts. This slows things down a little and allows for more
reflective scenes.
To summarise:
- Use the right words in the right places to increase or decrease pace.
- Lengthen or shorten paragraphs to increase or decrease pace.
- Lengthen or Shorten Chapters increase or decrease pace.
- Use dialogue increase or decrease pace.
- Jump scenes to spee3d things up.
- Use more description and detail to slow things down.
- Use emotions and inner dialogue with your main characters to slow the pace.
Next week: How many storylines can a novel
have?
Did you write this in a hurry? Because I noticed more mistakes in your writing than normal. Either way, really helpful! :)
ReplyDeleteI work 14 hour days and sleep 5 - 6 hours. I don't have the time for much. I can shut down this blog and that will free up some of my time, so that's something I can consider.
ReplyDeletePreparing a novel takes time and it's not an easy task overall. Writer need to think of various things to make the novel engaging. These tricks are seems like inspiring for that purpose.
ReplyDelete