The Secret of Variation (Part III)

If you've read parts I and II of my posts on The Secret of Variation, then you now know how powerfully this seemingly simple writing technique can transform your fiction. That's what this blog is all about: lifting you and your writing to the next level.




On that note, in this post we'll examine how variation applies to pace.




Pace, like story structure, is an often invisible element that seperates great novels from mediocre to terrible ones. Pace comes in all shapes and styles. Slow pace is the silent killer of so many promising stories. Fast past is preferable, but an endless breakneck speed comes with its own set of problems.




So how do bestselling authors deal with pace?




Good question. And I bet you alreadly know the answer. Ok, well part of it anyway.




For one, bestselling authors use advanced techniques, like variation, to sqeeze all of the energy out of it. Bestselling authors know that pace, like nothing else, will keep readers reading. A mastery of pace will go a long way in moving your work toward bestseller status.




When readers say, "I read it in one night," or "I couldn't put it down," you're witnessing the impact of a well-constructed pace.




So lesson one is that pace is critical to your success as an author. Lesson two is how exactly to use pace to your advantage.




On with lesson two!




Bestselling authors vary pace by controlling the speed of individual scenes, or groups of scenes. Read almost any bestseller from Harry Potter to the Da Vinci Code and you'll see the genuis of a great pace.




Most scenes in bestsellers are fast: Fast-Fast-Fast-Fast




But not all of them: Fast-Fast-Fast-Fast-Medium Speed-Fast




The key to varying pace is to keep the story fast, but slow down every now and then to let your characters (and your readers) breath. Not too long now. Better a fast story than one that plods along.




Of course, pace relys on a good story with lots of conflict, complications and obstacles for the hero to overcome. You can't have a fast pace with weak story material.




Every story is different. Some novels can survive more medium or slow scenes than others. But I'd be remiss if I didn't warn you that it takes a writer at the top of his or her craft to pull together a bestselling novel from the threads of slow scenes.




How many books have you stopped reading in frustration because of endless slow scenes? Who care about the intimate details of cooking scrambled eggs? I want to know who killed the mayor? How many movies dragged on well past the slow scene limit? Most stories, whether on the page or on the screen, can withstand only one or two, maybe even three, slow scenes.




Consider yourself warned.




In the end, it's better to have a majority of fast-paced scenes, a few scenes of medium speed to relieve the tension, and slow scenes only if God Himself appears to you at your computer and commands you keep them in.







Until next time, keep writing.







C.H.K.