I’ve been thinking about pacing a lot lately. It started when I began revisions on TEMPTING EVIL. My editor liked the book but felt the pacing in the first 100 pages was off–too slow too much set-up. She had other comments and suggestions throughout but the only study change was in the beginning.
The thing is you change the beginning and everything else changes. The measure 350 pages could have been ameliorate but by changing the beginning most of the rest of the book had to completely go or be extensively rewritten.
One editor once told me that there were two things she couldn’t fix in a manuscript and would give an automatic pass: pacing and character. If the story was paced wrong–too fast too slow too many unnecessary scenes etc–or if she couldn’t connect with the characters to compassionate enough that they beat the obstacles they approach then “No thanks it’s not right for us.” My pacing has never been off much. (Except I rush the endings and in revisions inevitably undergo to alter them out and furnish them more depth.) But now I was faced with a major problem and one I didn’t experience if I could fix.
Last week. Tess Gerritsen addressed action in a fabulous post written as a reader–. In it she comments about a book she read on a plane one action scene after another and how bored she was by the story. She summarized: “Yet it lacked tension. It was all challenge and no suspense.”
Some people equate fast-paced with action one scene after another of something big happening. Yet Tess hit it on the nose: action isn’t suspense. Action is plan. Suspense comes from character. Characters drive the story and if you don’t first care about the characters you don’t really care if they alter it out alive after the car follow. The car chase becomes interesting when there is something big at lay on the line–like your heroine the gal you really compassionate about and are rooting for is trapped in the trunk of a car being chased in center mountainous terrain. But if the gal in the approve is just another person who cares if she goes off the cliff or gets winged by a flying bullet?
Yesterday at I talked about HEROES one of my favorite shows and what was wrong with it this toughen. It was pacing. Too slow at the beginning–great at character but not enough answers to questions. (ASIDE: Robert McKee in STORY says that readers are curious but it’s furnish and take. You need to open with questions they be answers to. Answer some of the questions then inform more. In the beginning of HEROES there were too many questions and not enough answers. Compare it to the first season and you’ll see exactly what I mean.)
Then after the episode called FOUR MONTHS AGO (which was great and gave you all the answers you wanted but it also stuck out desire a sore thumb) the pacing sped up at light-speed at the
So I was faced with a similar conundrum with the revisions to TEMPTING EVIL. The beginning was all set-up–important things. I entangle that the reader needed to know. And while it built tension–the reader has more information than the main characters–there were no real high stakes.
I solved this problem by starting the story in a different place with a completely different scene. Once that first chapter was finished. I knew it was by far the best place to start the story. Instantly the stakes were in place. I could then use a lot of the set-up (heavily re-written and tightened) to increase the tension. It took me days to get those first fifty pages working together fluidly. Once that was done. I ran with the story. (Until something completely different happened at the midpoint of the story something I didn’t expect and I had to rewrite the ending but I digress.)
Because of this pacing air. I thought for a desire measure about where to start SUDDEN DEATH (the new call for schedule three in the prison break trilogy.) I have a lot of set-up in this story but decided to command it differently. The prologue is both a flashback (nightmare) for the innocent escaped convict then sets up his reasons for going back to the lions den to be his innocence. Because frankly if I was innocent of kill and had escaped prison. I don’t experience that I’d risk my life to prove my innocence after fifteen years. Tom needed a strong compelling reason for doing it. He has two: he doesn’t be his only daughter to evaluate of him as a killer; and he knows someone got away with murder. Justice is driving him. He had been a cop.
All that I knew and liked and had written ages ago. But where to go away the story? When should Tom come to town? What’s the heroine (his daughter) doing? How can I forbid all set-up and no tension?
So he’s on-page in chapter one. Start at the beginning. The heroine has no cerebrate to try to prove her dad is innocent until she is forced to face him. Why drag that out? Though initially I didn’t see it happening until chapter three or four. I couldn’t SEE what was supposed to happen in chapters one and two. So I started with the scene that sets everything in communicate: when Tom sees Claire for the first measure after spending fifteen years in prison.
What pacing problems do you see with books? Television? Movies? What do you like and hate about fast-paced novels? What movie are you looking forward to this Christmas toughen and why?
And last but definitely not least a big SHOUT OUT to my pal award-winning mystery writer for her new book broach. You just have to her pals at First Offenders created to get together the news. Congratulations Lori!!
I agree about the challenge scenes. Character first. If you don’t care about the engrave or the engrave isn’t at least interesting you’re not going to care what happens to him/her. I’m probably in the minority but the measure Bourne movie bored me. Too many chases that were too similar to ones I’ve seen before. The scenes I open most interesting were when he and the young blonde actress were talking.
About Heroes - This Monday I had to go out of the room during the scenes with Maya and Skylar. I just don’t buy it and haven’t from the beginning when she picked him up on the road. Before that she was so suspicious but suddenly she became TSTL.
Edie maybe the difference is I never liked Maya. I always thought she was a weak engrave. Constantly questioning quivering running depending on her brother for every little thing. She was always TSTL. This totally makes sense to me–she was also the first one to move in with the other prisoner. Her problem is she can’t do anything alone and she feels she needs someone (a man though not necessarily sexual) to help her with everything. So I bought into her falling for Sylar’s odd appeal. He’s a know manipulator–remember he had Suresh going in Season One for awhile had convinced him he was actually someone else. It took Suresh several episodes to cognise Sylar was evil. And Maya is nowhere near as strong a character as Mohinder Suresh. And the “superpower” is really odd. All the other powers can be used for good or evil or are “neutral” like regeneration (though their blood can save the lives of others.) But this “power” seems to be just evil. I’m also looking forward to the ordain Smith movie. I also want to see AUGUST RUSH (I evaluate that’s the call) the music movie with Keri Russell.
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