Improve The Pacing of Your Novel: Creative Writing Mastery

1. Introduction: All stories require great pacing. It's important to engage the reader, make narrative threads seamless, managed, compelling subplots, and to use language. That's quite a lot to do. Is it possible for writers to do it all? Welcome to a new Skillshare class aimed at helping novelists improve their pacing. I'm a writer who is currently editing her second novel. And I have discovered the importance of pacing. Without a solid grasp on it. Novels can turn sluggish and down. This column looks at pacing from three different approaches. Developmental, which is the big picture of the novel. As well as saying where chapters and saints are broken down. As story-based have analyzed. The final aspect in analyzing pacing is of course, sentences and paragraphs. As with all my courses on Skillshare, I welcome feedback and discussion. It's truly exciting to assist writers of many levels in improving their pacing. With that said, let's begin by considering what good pacing is. 2. What Makes Good Pacing? : There are four elements that make good pacing. The first one is breathing space, which allows the reader to digest the story. The second one is writers having skilled in grabbing attention of the reader. The third one is superior understanding of narrative. And finally, good pacing. Is usually genre suitable? Let's interrogate these. Pacing requires breathing space for the reader. And often, this means inserting reflection and slower beats within the story. For example, a writer may have an action scene, but follow up with something more thoughtful and meditative. Readers must digest the information presented. And writers can do this by considering pace. This is one of the ironies about pacing. You don't want every chapter to have the same pets. Variation is key. The second aspect concerns attention. Radius should engage with your story. And this means being careful about narrative points, structure, language, and word choices. This isn't really a concern in the first draft, but in lighter ones, you must. Now to storytelling and linguistic choices. Of course, narrative is important. I talk about this in the developmental stage of this course. Pacing generally requires a solid understanding of character, setting, tension, and storytelling. There are many books and Skillshare courses on this topic. I've made. So check them out. You won't learn everything overnight. But you can improve your pacing today by taking a methodical look at the various elements that make up pacing. Lastly, let's consider genre. Every genre is different. For example, a thrill that gives way to a faster pace. Where as well building intense genres like historical fantasy fiction may slow a bit. Phone, not a hard-and-fast rule. Consider the pacing of novels similar to yours. This can help establish an ID of what pacing can or should look like. Before concluding, I must convey the value of feedback from other writers. When writing a story. It's possible to get caught up in it that you lose some objectiveness. Don't worry if that's you. It's happened to me many times. But before you publish your novel, will send it to literary agents and publishers. It's a good idea to get feedback on the pacing by editors are better readers. You must discover where you read a loses attention and focus. And if they are digesting the story as intended, I suggest giving a question sheet alongside the novel. The reader considers the stories pace. Once receiving the feedback, it's time to improve your pacing. You want to break down a source paste into three groups, developmental, scene and sentence. The three blocks this course is about. Usually fixing a novel space involves deleting scenes, rewriting the beginning of chapters, or adding subplots. This process will differ from H writer and don't be afraid to find a style that works for you. 3. Developmental Pacing & Editing: Pacing is of course, not just on a sentence by sentence level. Your novel and its overall shape will determine the reading experience. You want to avoid an awkward pace or if it's too fast or slow. Pacing is one of those things that when it works, it's invisible and the rain doesn't notice. The goal for readers to instead engage with your characters, setting, and narrative Bates. I suggest the following three tips in developmental pacing. The first subplot, the second, backstories and flashbacks. Finally, as the third, you want to consider structure. Let's go into each of them. Such a terrific for adding content to your story until allowing a breathing space between narrative beats. This is important for the reader to digest crucial plot points. What I love about subplots is how they add depth and meaning to the relevant characters. You get to see the main characters in new environments and contexts. Though this is usually tied to the core story of well-written subplot can enrich the reader attachment. Each character. Subplots can also make your story more versatile in terms of genre. The core story may be a romance, but a subplot can add mystery or thrills. Writers should view subplots as a secret ingredient, which can elevate a single story into something spectacular. The second suggestion or backstories and flashbacks generally should not overdo them and treat each flashback with care. But there's no denying the power of flashbacks. Hey, fantastic. Ironing out character motivations and behavior while teasing new information. And sometimes twist and reveals. Flashbacks or terrific opportunities for symbolism and introducing complex information. Or at certain times, you characters. As for backstories, riders must consider the lives of the characters. Before the story begins. You must consider how the shapes and motivations in self floors, behavioral traits and relationships with each other. There's a concept I love, Code, micro tension. The rate is discovered tension through what remains unsaid. For example, to love and may have a test dialogue that alludes to previous drama between them. But the full stakes are not fully revealed. Backstories are spellbinding way to keep your reader engaged. And even if flashbacks outlet for your story, please consider at least backstories as I truly help with pacing on the developmental level. Lastly, structure. There are different schools of thoughts and this, should writers use a five-act structure, a method like Save the Cat by Blake Snyder and Jessica priority? I can't answer that question for you. As every author must discover his or her own way. But H story requires a beginning, middle, and end. The story is cool. Conflicts must feature in all three parts. Whether it is resolved or just brewing, the narrative must undergo change. Whether this is introducing new locations, characters, goals, or stakes. Overall, the beginning, middle, and end serve different purposes from each other. The beginning is about introducing the reader to the storyworld and alerting them to the main themes. The middle progresses the story along while establishing obstacles. Ways for the characteristic will be tested. There are typically subplots. This brings us to the end where the main threads or salt. I said earlier, every story is different. But as the writer, you want to make every beginning, middle, and end as distinct as possible. It makes for better pacing and storytelling. The best way to check the pacing is by reading it, but also through a seamless. After your first draft. Jot down all the things in your novel, or make a visual board. You'll see when area is bare and requires work or if one is overloaded. Many writers do this and it definitely helps. To summarize, make the most of subplots, backstories, flashbacks, structure. 4. Chapters & Scenes: A novel is of course, made up of many scenes. Some authors cluster the scenes into chapters, which isn't always necessary, but can help pacing. In this lesson, I will propose three tips on improving same pacing. The first one is curating and starting strong. The second one is adding a taste. And the third one is given a purpose. We'll start with curating. Characters will undergo many events in the timespan of the novel. But it also must be selective in what is true. Because of this, writers must curate the information revealed to the radar at specific times. Think of it like a museum. Not every piece is shown. And the curator must use historical artifacts to tell a story. Novelist will determine men this too, but must decide whether to summarize certain events or to show them. Not. Every scene needs to be drama to size. There are occasions where summary is more suitable. Regardless, HCM must start strong within the first paragraph. This doesn't mean melodrama, but you may use foreshadowing symbolism or just introduce the key conflict for each scene. Misconception I see riders fall into is believing they must jump every paragraph. With non-stop drama. This can definitely rule intention, as it's always valuable to have key moments of reflection and description. Upset. You want to taste future events and saints for shadowing is good. But it's not your only option. Perhaps three characters can have a talk about plants are mentioned a character who's about to enter. This, done quite well in the first Harry Potter novel where many characters. And I mentioned before appearing. One example, the outcast Sirius Black, who is a key character in the third level, is alluded to in the first chapter in the Philosopher's Stone. A key benefit is making the storyworld seem more expansive and large to the reader. This is clearly terrific. To conclude, I must discuss purpose. Each scene should move the story forward. Whether it's a plot point or tells us something new about a character, a contributes to lay the scenes. You should revise things that do not fit this criteria so that they do. Not only will this improve the pacing, but I'll also help the reader engage with the story. Writers must find the correct balance between active and reactive saints. A fast-paced scene where a lot happens is best followed by something smaller and personal. With key characters muse on future decisions. To help with pacing, you need a seamless this can do one, this re story's pacing. In the next video, you'll learn micro techniques to improve your sentence level pacing. I'll see you there. 5. Sentence Structure & Pacing: Welcome to a crucial topic and pasting. Getting your sentences right and making them flow well will elevate any novel. The way sentences are constructed and worded can massively impact pacing. If your sentences and paragraphs are too verbose and wordy, this grinds a story down. Yet if they are too sparse and vague, your reader will not immersed into him or herself into the story. There are six tips I'm offering today. The first one is adding detail. The second one is removing filler words and using precise language. For the last full, I'll talk about avoiding repetition, watching dialogue, adding variation, sentence structure, and knowing when to speed up and when to slow down. Let's break this down. The first one is adding detail. Obviously, you shouldn't do this for every moment in your story, but select instances where the reader is masked into detail. This is great for more reflective things. When a character is introduced to a new environment. Also consider original ways to work. The subscription, perhaps you'd like to use metaphors or symbolism. This is something I love about Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. He has a spell binding and beautiful way of portraying you information. If you need ideas, typing a beloved novel into good rates, and save the most liked quotes. This can definitely help Spock suggested writers with truly fast pacing and short prose can benefit from slowing down and adding description or getting deeper into characterization. Again, like I said in my previous video, variation is key. Just like in music. Writers must establish tunnel variety, which brings us onto some point the value of precisely language. So many first drafts have filler words such as head or that which weaken the pros lot. Sometimes you'll need to use those words. It's important to use precise language and to avoid filler words. Doing this will sharpen your prose and take your writing to the next level. Don't worry too much about filler words in the first draft. That's completely normal, but focus on your language in revisions and in editing. Another pacing concern is repetition. When I was editing the pacing for my novel, I noticed the amount of repetition in it. Here's an example. I wrote. Fear drenched the air. Sally thought, I'm afraid. The second sentence is a repetition of the first. And really I should use that opportunity to present your information. Perhaps I mentioned body language instead, or sell his reaction to the feet in the air. Repetition is something you must avoid. It drags pacing down. And in worst cases, it can turn ideas and concepts which you've worked hard on into prettiness. This is also true for dialogue. Some writers, under the ideas of realism believe every line must be articulated or that prose must have real sick dialogue with status and pauses. Whilst this is true, occasionally, brackish should carefully consider what dialogue is shown. I must suggest variation in sentence structure. Good pacing mixes the short with the long and medium. If every sentence has the same rhythm, is drags the pacing down. You may want to restructure the wording of sentences. For example, shifting the subject objects and verb around. This is because the key to good pacing for a sentence level of structure is variation. Finally, writers must determine when to speed up or slow down. Not every sentence will require expanding on, whereas others will. Consider the paragraphs that benefit from reflection and more detail while having an eye for sparsity. In other sections, this will definitely help. 6. Class Project: Excellent. For this class project, you'll reflect on how to improve pacing within your writing. Consider the last piece of fiction you've written. It could be a short story flush fiction or full length novel. Don't worry, I do not expect you to post your entire worksheet. Provided 200 words of commentary on the story's pacing. Consider your story strengths and flaws, as well as opportunities for improvement. If you'd like at pictures or diagrams. Perhaps a snippet from a story can help to afterwards, make sure you share this. In the class projects section. I pass a mine and I can't wait to see what you've come up with. This task isn't about right or wrong answers. As there are many valid perspectives. Rather, we should focus on discovering an approach towards pacing that helps you in creative writing. 7. Conclusion: Thank you very much for taking this class on improving pacing. To recap, it must focus on the overall structure of your story, as well as pacing issues concerning saints and sentences. Pacing, in my experience, can take some time to get right. And it's good to get feedback from better readers and novel edited. Yet the time invested, as well as the difficulties with conflicts in feedback or being unsure what to do. All of this is clearly worth it. The best stories consistently have a brilliant grasp on pasting. Thank you. Again, if you'd like, check out my other courses on creative writing. Perfect for riders at any level. I cover genres, prose, tips, technology, I degeneration, and finding your voice as a writer. Feedback, comments and reviews are always welcome. I love teaching and look forward to discussing creative writing with you. Thanks again, and I'll see you soon.