writercises | TECH: Get The Pacing Right (Reply)

Original Posting 25 February 2009

Getting the Pace Right

Writer's Digest, March 2006, The Writing Clinic by Paul Bagdon on pages 52 to 55, discusses how using pacing and a simple structure produces "Exquisite Dread." It's looking at a prologue, "a resoundingly splendid piece of work -- so strong and evocative, in fact, that it's a positive example of the principles of effective fiction writing. Beck has done almost everything right in her pages, and her first paragraph constitutes an essentially flawless opening for a novel or a short story."

Now that's a high recommendation. So what's the first paragraph look like? Glad you asked:

"Margaret Costello prepared Abby's after-school snack before she hanged herself in the garage. She sliced the cheddar into perfect squares and arranged them on a plate, alternating crackers and cheese in two straight lines. She readied a meatloaf, then placed the heating instructions next to the cheese plate on the kitchen table and walked through the house one last time."

The commentary has three points.

1. Open with action. Opening paragraphs need to create drama, and make it almost impossible for the reader to stop. There a lot of ways to do this, but "open with action" is a good recommendation. But what does action mean? The very first line of this paragraph provides action -- the very ordinary preparation of a snack juxtaposed with the revelation that the protagonist intends to kill herself. And then we continue with the snack.

From the first sentence, the reader knows what is going to happen to Margaret. So why do they keep reading? It's a combination of interest and empathy. "It's difficult to imagine a reader who wouldn't be compelled to continue reading after absorbing the opening paragraph -- which is precisely the effect a well-crafted opening is intended to have."

2. Pace yourself. How quickly the plot is developed and the characters are revealed is what really keeps the reader going. You can use flashbacks, changes in person and tense, changes in location, different narrators, and even straightforward simple chronological description. The key is keeping the pacing in mind. Is the plot dragging because of description? Is it racing too quickly, so that the reader doesn't have a chance to keep up? Are we flashing all over the place on non sequiturs? Don't bury a vivid plot in overused devices. Technique is at the service of telling the story, not the other way around.

3. Emotion or sensationalism? Sometimes writers use emotion to strengthen scenes that aren't quite as strong as it should be -- that's sensationalism. Be careful of going over the line. You want honest accurate emotions, not melodrama. This particular prologue is emotionally difficult. But it is also compelling and not overdone.

So when you're doing those beginnings, remember this example. Juxtapose a revealed action with the ordinary. Don't bury strong plot in writing devices. And portray honest emotions.

And write.