Pacing Sells Your Book
and it doesn't have to be 'fast-paced'
Pacing makes profit.
And no, writing a fast-paced, speed-chase, YA book isn’t the only way to create successful, marketable pacing.
Here’s what we’re studying on the topic of pacing in Plot is Not Real:
tracking audience expectations and predictions (and subverting them successfully)
ending chapters and scenes with effective tension (without relying on cliffhangers or mid-action endings)
placing key scenes, climaxes, and reveals at the most optimal moments in the manuscript
making the middle-to-end your new favorite part of the book (instead of something to survive or slog through)
When the pacing of your book is fine-tuned, your reader has a blast. Whether its a melancholic exploration of a single character or a vibrant story with a large cast and multiple POVs, having a strong handle on your pacing makes the entire reading experience worthwhile. And, it sells your book.
Instead of treating the symptoms of ‘slow’ pacing as they come up in each individual manuscript, I want to arm writers with a more in-depth understanding of what creates the sensation of time and action in a book. Readers process emotion, intensity, and transitions differently than we conceive them as writers. When we combine these two perspectives, we can gain insight from our audience, and then take action as the creator.
Pacing can be locked in and efficient from the first draft. It doesn’t have to feel like a frantic catch-up during revision. I know the pain of deleting entire scenes and chapters just to adjust pacing in the final hours. Over time, I’ve learned that the pacing and plot of a book can be extremely powerful when they’re understood from the start of the draft.
Even though, of course, Plot is Not Real.
