Writing How to manage pacing

Owl

Nervous writer
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Apr 10, 2019
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I'm looking for tips on how to pace stories well!
Of course I know that it changes depending on the story and writing and stuff, but how do you manage for stories that you know should be a bit slower paced? I'm struggling from jumping from one happening to the other...:blob_cringe:

Is there any way to guess how you should pace things so that the readers don't feel rushed or are you all just doing it by feeling?:blob_hmm:
 

Llamadragon

Active member
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Jan 19, 2019
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If you're in doubt, just balance it equally. Divide your story elements in different parts - that could be POV characters, the dramatic tension vs calm, the length of archs, whatever. Just add it together and divide in equal-ish parts. It's occasionally challenging since it might change the way you're used to pacing, but you'll never rush anything again.
 

Wintertime

King of Nothing
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Divide out your chapters. Find the number of words per chapter you want to execute, and then try to set a rising action based on the dividend of the pacing you want to set. For example:

Let's say I want 5k words per chapter, and every three chapters have a conflict, rising action, resolution in that order. So, that would mean every 15k words I have a mini-plot fill with conflict and solution (and it could be something trivial such as worldbuilding, or profound such as character development). If you want a faster-paced novel, maybe every chapter (5k) has a conflict, rising action, resolution instead of every three chapters.

Then, space out your essential ARC's. How many words are you willing to build each arc, and how many arcs your story wants to have. There are other ways to do this, but having a skeleton of what you want to build helps with writing. Obviously, you don't have to follow these things to the teeth, but it's a good overall limiter whenever you tend to write too much, or stay on a plot point or arc for too long.
 

YuriDoggo

Angery Doggo >ᴗ<
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I manage pacing by splitting stories in major arcs, then splitting these arcs into scenes, and then action. This modular approach allows you to plan pretty well and you get to see how much of what is taking up space and attention. Sometimes I switch it up by writing all the dialogue for a scene first with basic stage instructions and if I catch myself droning I cut it out.

This works for a couple dozen thousand words, but I've never went past that amount so it may not work for longer works idk.

Also, read it out loud to yourself and if you feel yourself getting bored, you might want to cut something out. Or, if you're getting confused, it might be time for more details.
 

BenJepheneT

Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts
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Pacing can be done if you know what you need your readers to see each chapter or arc. By going through the details and major plot points, you can pin point exactly how much you want to put in words and how much you can leave to the reader's imagination.



Make a chapter outline. That'll help the best.
 

tiaf

ゞ(シㅇ3ㅇ)っ•♥•Speak fishy, read BL.•♥•
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Just like the others pointed out, first think about the major plot events. Then think about the small happenings, that occur between them/lead to the event/foreshadows later events or just flesh out the character with some scenes of their daily life.

I didn’t particularly have a set outline at the beginning of my story, so I just wrote and stockpiled the first chapters. Days later I reread them, the faults and jumpy parts, I didn’t see at the beginning, stood out like black dots on white paper.

Reading other works also helps a lot. If you find a book, which has a really nice pacing, then you can take it as reference. Analyse it and compare it with your work.
 

Owl

Nervous writer
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Thanks for the tips! I'll try with more planning :)
 
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