This is an easy problem. I need ways to add a pause in a sentence, because I'm currently overusing a few trite phrases and I want to add more variety. Currently, I'm using: "S/he paused," "A second passed," "A moment went by," Aaand variations of the above. What are better varieties that I can add so it's less repetitive and redundant, and so it doesn't repeat itself as much?
All of your examples are about pauses. Are you looking for more ways to communicate a pause, or all sorts of beats?
Sorry, I don't think I was very clear. Yes, I'm looking for ways to communicate a pause. I was using 'Beat' in that a beat passes without anyone speaking or doing anything in the conversation. The title doesn't exactly match the post now that I'm looking at it, but I wrote the title before writing out my question.
You can use a beat to invoke a pause that isn't necessarily spelled out explicitly. A beat in writing is actually a kind of attribution. It let's you know who spoke through an action that belongs to the same person, without specifically saying he said or she said, as in a tag. Just an action interposed mid-dialogue can imply the pause. Trust the reader to read it that way. "I think you're wrong about Michael." Tracy swept her hair back, unimpressed with Jack's argument. "In fact, I know you're wrong." Just making the reader wait between the two bits of dialogue is enough for us to feel that Tracy stopped for a moment before delivering the second bit. ETA: No single writing device is going to serve as a fix-all panacea, of course. Do that and all you've done is replace thing X that happens too many times with thing Y that happens too many times. For the fix I proffer, since it relies on implication, regard the spots in question where you are overusing your phrase and pick those instances where a pause feels natural and organic to what's going on, where the interposition of action I mention feels right, then execute thusly.
I scrolled back to a dialogue-heavy portion of my wip for ideas and found: After a moment ... He wasn't sure how to answer ... He didn't respond for a moment ... He waited for acknowledgement ... He thought for a moment ... Turns out I say 'moment' a lot Which I knew, to be fair. But the bulk of my beats are actions: He glanced over ... He waved it off ... X gave Y a look ... X turned so Y could see ... Putting in actions implies a pause, unless you specify that they're done AS the dialogue is said ("Blah blah blah," he said, turning to do whatever), and tends to space out your dialogue a bit more. You can turn a really brief conversation that would be five lines of dialogue into something much more dynamic and interesting by tossing in actions as beats. There's also introspection, which is one I do a lot - by having a character mull something over for a moment, you're also implying a pause, since most people can't think and talk that well simultaneously.
The above suggestions are pretty close to what I'd recommend. The trick to remember is that something is happening during that pause; time doesn't stop. So write about what's happening. "I'd didn't work out." Her finger traced a small heart on the table-top. "I guess we weren't ready for it, after all." "You're right." He regarded the picture on the wall for a moment, and then looked back at me. "I'll do it."
I occasionally just use "then". "So I got the frogs dyed. Half pink, half blue. Well, I left a few of them green." "Oh, good." Then, "What the hell are you talking about?"
You can denote the passing of time through briefly describing what is happening to fill that moment. For example, after reading through this thread, I paused for a moment and looked out the window to ponder exactly what you were asking, how I would answer, and also to consider whether I should add another log to the fire. See below: I looked up from the keyboard to watch the trees swaying in the icy wind outside. Two dogs snored in front of the fire, which had started to burn low. The velvety tones of jazz filled the room; a mellow soundtrack to accompany this quiet afternoon. I turned back at my laptop and began typing. Several moments had passed between my actions but I didn't need to tell that several moments had passed because I had shown it instead, through describing a brief moment of my passive interaction with my surroundings.
Make something happen. Don't always tell me about the pause; imply it. "I'm not..." Aaron's gaze fell. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."
I'm answering this question again because I think my last response was pretty pathetic, really. Here's how I've done it in a scene in my WIP, where I blend dialogue with action to show a pause in speech: “Indeed it was Jesus who said,” Reverend Kurt licked a finger, turned a page and adjusted the glasses upon his long nose. “It was Jesus who said, ‘When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.’.”
This, to me, is perfect in that it's been organically woven into the context of the scene rather than being given to the reader as "stage directions".
For a short pause, you can also put said in the middle of the dialogue instead of the end. "It's too far," he said. "We'll never make it." Or, "If he's such a powerful wizard," he huffed, "why doesn't he help us?" Rather than implying that they didn't pause. "It's too far. We'll never make it," he said. or "If he's such a powerful wizard, why doesn't he help us?" he huffed.
