This is for those just getting started.
I've heard too many debates and compliments given about pace, but for the new writer, I would encourage you to just flat out ignore those things. First you need to be writing, and writing in a way that you enjoy. This is the time to get the fundamentals, the basics, build the right muscle memory and enjoy yourself.
You can push the boundaries on things like Pace later.
You will have a natural tendency, a natural speed which you move the story along, and since you're just starting, it's one of the last things you need to worry about.
Thoughts and ideas about pace can get a little too ethereal, instead of mechanical.
So when should you worry about Pace? Once you have the habit of writing the story down and you find yourself catching your mistakes enough that you can trust yourself with a red pen. After a few stories, you'll notice there are just moments that you need to slow down and emphasize. Moments you need to add more description, you need the reader to spend a little more time in.
Pace gives your readers a lot of subconscious information, if you force them to spend more time on a moment, you're letting them know there is significance here. if you speed things up (Maybe we're talking a string of action) then we need to cut out some words. (Those fewer words and more action page is what causes people to call a book a 'Page Turner')
But I would tell a new writer to play around with pace after they have hit the point that they can look back on a story, two or more months later, and identify problems with it, passages that don't belong, or errors in presenting the character in a way that the reader gets the right idea about them.
Then start working on pace. and believe me, like anything else, once you spend some time playing around with it, you can shift gears in your story without much effort. You'll find yourself pushing and pulling on those strings in the first draft.
I did some audio on this below. The comments are for you and your thoughts, anything you want to add.
I've heard too many debates and compliments given about pace, but for the new writer, I would encourage you to just flat out ignore those things. First you need to be writing, and writing in a way that you enjoy. This is the time to get the fundamentals, the basics, build the right muscle memory and enjoy yourself.
You can push the boundaries on things like Pace later.
You will have a natural tendency, a natural speed which you move the story along, and since you're just starting, it's one of the last things you need to worry about.
Thoughts and ideas about pace can get a little too ethereal, instead of mechanical.
So when should you worry about Pace? Once you have the habit of writing the story down and you find yourself catching your mistakes enough that you can trust yourself with a red pen. After a few stories, you'll notice there are just moments that you need to slow down and emphasize. Moments you need to add more description, you need the reader to spend a little more time in.
Pace gives your readers a lot of subconscious information, if you force them to spend more time on a moment, you're letting them know there is significance here. if you speed things up (Maybe we're talking a string of action) then we need to cut out some words. (Those fewer words and more action page is what causes people to call a book a 'Page Turner')
But I would tell a new writer to play around with pace after they have hit the point that they can look back on a story, two or more months later, and identify problems with it, passages that don't belong, or errors in presenting the character in a way that the reader gets the right idea about them.
Then start working on pace. and believe me, like anything else, once you spend some time playing around with it, you can shift gears in your story without much effort. You'll find yourself pushing and pulling on those strings in the first draft.
I did some audio on this below. The comments are for you and your thoughts, anything you want to add.
