Controlling Pace with Detail
Pacing. We love to hate this element in our novels, as it’s something that can be as easy or as hard to control as we make it. Here’s my little tip for today: The amount of detail in your story is crucial to controlling pace.
I’ll say this now: Things will always be happening in your book (I hope, at least). There will always be action or conversation of some sort, or your readers won’t be interested. This isn’t really what we want to change when it comes to pacing.
How much does your character care about the exact shade of blue on that wall when they’re fighting what is possibly the biggest battle of their life? What about when they’ve just finished an exam, and still have to wait about an hour before they can leave? The amount of things your character notices is directly affected by what’s happening around them, and this is how we control pace.
If something on the slower side is happening, allow your characters and your readers to notice the small things. Let them live in this moment of peace before your throw the Next Big Thing at them.
Inversely, you want your readers on the edge of their seats when something action-y is happening. If it’s important enough, they should be sensing what the character is sensing, and that’s nothing but the heat of the moment. They’re going to be living that fight second by second and in that time, you’re not going to need to many details. You’re going to need to know what’s happening and if there are any injuries; that’s about it.
You can also take this time to sneak in something your character will miss in the moment but will be important to the plot later.
If you want to see me cover another subject, don’t forget to leave a message in my ask; until next time, much love! <333
