How do I keep a good pacing in a story? Whenever I write a story, I feel like i'm pacing it too fast.

901512

Now, by 'pacing, do you mean by sentence structure? Or full-on storytelling?

Generally stories that move too fast do so because they lack certain things. The most common thing I've seen is the writer simply not describing the scene. They just say things like, "They went into the burned-down forest." and then say nothing else about the scene. Nothing about twisted and blackened trees, ash sticking to the hooves of the ponies, or the wind going where it usually couldn't because the trees were blocking it. Pacing in narration is controlled by how much description is given. Pacing in plot is all about action and peace, alternating between scenes that are rather calm, and scenes that are exciting and have a lot of conflict.

901530 This right here. Every scene needs detail, the trick is knowing what details are important, and what details are fluff.

Now, by 'pacing, do you mean by sentence structure? Or full-on storytelling?

I mean full-on storytelling.

901566 I usually begin with a high pace, then I slow down as I progress in the story.

My latest story might be a good example. The first part sets the mood, the second starts the adventure proper, the third sets up conlict, the fourth drama and resolution and the epilogue ties it all up. It's not a quick story, nor is it bogged down with overdescriptiveness - the pacing is just right.

901530 901549 I have to third them on this, but there is one other facet of pacing that should be touched upon: how long it takes to resolve the conflict in terms of actual events in the story.

Let's go with a basic adventure-fic, because those serve as a good example in this field of pacing.

Let's say that the conflict of the story is "Daring Do must acquire the Macguffin necklace."

Now with this type of story, another form of pacing is how many intermediate goals there are between Daring's goal, and her starting position. She might need to first break into the penthouse of a crime lord, to get a map, but then she might find that the map was already stolen by another adventurer. She'd then have to chase after that new adventurer to get the map herself. The adventurer could escape at any time, lengthening the adventure, and giving the reader more time to become involved in Daring's character and exposition that the author may give. But if the story goes on like that for too long, with no progress getting made, the reader can get irritated that the character they've come to care about isn't making any progress.

So once Daring gets the map, there could be all sorts of other things to get in the way, she could need to find a translator, find a key that the map specifies before going after the goal itself, or some other entity could start hunting her down.

This can work in slice-of-life fictions as well, it's just that the obstacles that characters have to overcome are more in the field of personal interactions, realizing they have a problem, coming to terms with their problem, asking for assistance (and possibly being rejected), etc.

Hope that helped, 901512

You can write a fast paced story. Or a slow paced one. You just need the story and the writing to be good enough that the pace doesn't matter, that's all.

901512when I write my fics I try describe things as best as I can but I constantly have an issue with starting one off so it seems like I'm just rushing into things, but I try to stretch it out more by going into further detail In the beginning until the reader gets a feel for what's going on. Then I tone it down a bit as far as detail goes. So my advice to you is detail detail detail. It will do wonders for your pacing

901512

Here's a general rule for you: if the scene is one with little action, the pacing should be fast, minutes and hours should pass in a line or two if nothing important happens during them, but if the scene has a lot of action, it should be paced slowly. Action scenes should have more detailed descriptions, like saying things happening in the background and other places. By doing this, you draw the scene out, and since those scenes are generally the ones readers love, if you make them be over quickly, the reader will feel cheated. Drawing things out makes it more satisfying, and if your action scenes are satisfying, your reader will be willing to put up with a lot of crap just to get to the next one.

But what I said earlier still applies: Always set the scene. Period. If it's a location you've described before, take some of that description and reword it, then put in new details and touches for the reader to add to their mental image. If you don't do this, the transition from one area to another will be awkward, or worse, jarring.

Ok. Well, thanks for answering my question everyone.

901734

Heya. Sry about the delay. And holy crap-baskets, there was a lot of answers here. Well I can throw this much in if it helps.

Generally, good pacing is (as few have mentioned) key within narration. But what should really be touched on, is how much the characters play a role. Your readers are supposed to be engrossed by the issue of the story and how it affects those involved. To that end, good pacing is all about the characters and what they see, hear, taste, smell, etc. Lots of different perspectives here. Take what you need from the lot of us, and show us some grade-A writing material, Friend. Laters!

Craine...

Personally I find having a hidden rythm helps greatly with the pacing. In your head if it flows right then the story will move well. The only thing is that you need to have studied poetry in order to be able to create an unconsious rythm.