I am struggling with the pacing of my story, and the events often seem out of proportion with one another. Does anyone have any tips or advice? This is one of the few times I have tried to write something longer than a short story, so I have a feeling that a lot of the problems I am having are probably just due to lack of practice. Regardless, any insight would be greatly appreciated.
That's a broad question, so it's hard to give a specific answer. One way to look at it is that your main character should constantly be facing increasing and/or new challenges. Tension is what drives a story, and tension comes from your character trying to achieve his/her goal in the face of significant obstacles. So perhaps write out each of your chapter numbers as headings, and set out what obstacles your character faces in each one (some of these will carry over from one chapter to the next). You can then see if the problems are static (not good), decreasing (not good, unless it's right at the end), or increasing (perfect!). Or you could just keep writing and then concentrate on the pacing and sequence of events afterwards. Personally, I hate rewriting and so I try to get things right as soon as I'm aware of a problem. But other writers get so caught up with fixing problems that the never actually finish the manuscript, which is a crying shame. Only you know which type you are. And if this is your first novel, then you may not be able to fix issues yourself yet or even identify them properly - I know I couldn't. There might not be a pacing problem at all. Or it might be that there is a pacing problem, but it's not what you think. Beta readers will be able to see what you can't. I'm sure others will have different suggestions. If you could be more specific, e.g. what you mean by events being out of proportion, we might be able to give better advice. Just beware you can't post samples of your writing yet, until you qualify to post in the workshop.
Thank you for the response! I tend to be someone who is constantly rewriting different parts of my story. I like to have an outline/plan in place when I start but I often find myself shifting away from my initial outline. The main problem I have is spending too much time on details and not enough on the noteworthy and important moments. As I reread, I notice that I’ve spent twice as long preparing for important moments than the actual moment itself. I hadn’t really thought much about not recognising plot issues at all, so thank you for pointing that out. It’s a really valid point that I hadn’t considered. While I had planned to have someone look over my story, it seems that I didn’t weigh its importance nearly enough. I really appreciate the insight!
This reminds me of something that I tend to run into, and I think of as the three sides of an event: the run-up to the event, the event, and the aftermath. I keep re-realizing that very often, any ONE of the three is sufficient. (Though if you totally skip the event, you're more likely to need both the run-up and the aftermath.) Generic example: Jane dressing for the dance, or walking away from the dance, may be what the story needs, and you might be able to totally skip the dance.
Very good formulated. I have no problem following you talking about the three sides of the event. I think ofcourse it is like that, CF knows her stuff, I will remember that. But it is not until you give the generic example I see it. I have used it myself in my last contest post, but at that point I felt bad about it, it felt as if I was cheating.
It sounds like you're editing while writing too much. It's a tricky habit to break (I'm certainly guilty of it), but some of my most confident work comes after I take the editing lens off and just concentrate on getting some facsimile of what I want to say on paper or screen. Give yourself a rest and then go back and see if you can amend it. I rely on an annotated outline. Mostly, I don't start writing the main piece until I have a good basis under foot, as this helps me stay on the trajectory I have in mind while allowing for freedom to improvise.
One thing that can really help with pacing is to stay as close to the present narrative as often as possible. This is something I have to actively think about while writing in order for things to work.
There is nothing wrong with editing (even heavy editing) while writing. Just because you don't do it doesn't mean it won't work out for other people. And I don't think telling a writer they need a break for anything short of a nervous breakdown is ever good advice.
For a general question here is a general answer: - If you can remove something from your story without having a noticeable effect on the plot, then remove it. note: this may not be the case in some situations; say for a more psychological piece where depth of detail can give weigh and gravitas to certain episodes in the story. (Read "Poetics" - Aristotle)
If you are like me, I tend to have a story in my head, how it starts, how it ends, the main characters, etc. Then I have to develop it all and that is where the challenge comes in. My original thoughts is makes it easy to write a "short story". However, beyond that if you want to make your story a novel then you have to mastermind how to pace your story. A strategy I do, which may be unorthodox, is I write a situation (an episode, an event, etc) as I come up with it. I could start with how a character dies before I ever write how the character was even introduced. I separate it all in my document with subtitles of what exactly that incident is. Then, the more the full story develops I begin the copy and paste method of moving the events around to have an appropriate flow. My mind just doesn't work in a straight forward flow process when telling stories. Even in real life. If someone is trying to tell me something that happened to them at work, I actually want to know certain things that go out of order of the story. So, that is how I write. Once I have all my story lines completed then I put them into the right order. Just an idea, if you break up your story into specific events and occurrences, then go back and put it all in the right order you'll see that your plot played out accordingly. Feel free to write when the creative moments hit you with a particular event in your story. You can shift it around later to where it belongs.
There's more than one route from home to work. They will all get you there, some are more direct and with less traffic. Pick a route that suits you and run with it. I'd argue there is an advantage to stepping away from your work and returning with a fresh outlook. Beginner or no, it's all part of the process.
That is really helpful! I will definitely play around with incorporating that approach and see how it works for me.
I like this idea a lot! It sounds like something that would go well with my personal writing style. Thanks
@deadrats , Can you (or someone else if @deadrats isn't around) explain that like I'm four? Not being snarky. My dyslexia is really flaring today, so the words "present narrative" aren't registering. I want to grasp what you're saying, because I'm having plot issues, but it's one of those days where common terminology reads like an obscure foreign language. If you explain it like I'm four, I'll get it. Thank you.
The present narrative is the current storyline in which your story is taking place. No flashbacks, no backstory. What is going on right now in this story? Of course you can and should still use flashbacks and backstory. I just make sure not to derail for too long from the story snd it's present action. I hope that makes sense, but please let me know if it doesn't. Also, it wouldn't matter what tense you are writing in. Example (past tense): Today was going to be the best day of his life. Example (present tense): Today is going to be the best day of his life. You could swap about Today with "It" and it would still work. These are examples of what a line from the present narrative of a story could look like. I hope this helps.
