(Jenna talking to Buttercup) Can you see yourself in the monitor? Look how cute you are. Look how
beautiful you look in your sweater. (Laughs) You look stoned. Have you been experimenting with the ganja?
(LOGO)
Hellooo everybody! Quick announcement a couple of weeks ago Cliff had a
procedure in order to help treat his neuropathy. Tomorrow he has surgery, and in two more weeks he
will have another surgery. (Sarcastic) Yay. That means life's crazy around here, and we're just
trying to survive. With that said I have a FULL roster of videos planned for the month. However,
if I end up having fewer bonus videos than usual or I miss a week, you know why. I appreciate
your understanding. And if you don't understand, you're a dick. Onto the next! Indiecember is still
underway. This is what my bingo board currently looks like. I haven't had time to read lately,
what with all the surgeries going on. So instead I've been reviewing self-published books that I
have read previously, but hadn't yet had a chance to review. If you didn't know that you could do
that in Indiecember, now you know. Onto the topic. Today I am talking about one of your
most requested topics, and that is pacing. It can be difficult to determine the rhythm and flow of
your novel and sometimes it's hard to tell if the scene that you've written is too fast or too slow,
given the circumstances and content. I personally put a lot of time and effort into honing my skill
set in this area. So now I'm breaking down the top 10 tips that I've learned for pacing your
novel. Before we get started, I want to give a shout out to the sponsor of today's video.
No it's not Buttercup. She’s just here to be cute. My good friends over at Skillshare have
GENEROUSLY sponsored today's video. They make it so much easier for me to produce regular FREE
content for you guys, and I am eternally grateful to them. If you're not familiar,
Skillshare is an online learning platform geared specifically toward creators that features over
17,000 classes in a wide range of topics including writing, business, web design, the works! I'm
personally fond of their marketing classes. I've actually got two marketing classes for authors
available on Skillshare right now, so you should definitely check them out. They're pretty awesome,
I'm just saying. I'm a big fan of Skillshare. I used their platform even before they sponsored me,
and I just really appreciate the fact that they are so supportive of creators of all kinds.
Skillshare’s got a special gift just for you guys, stick around until the end of this video
for details. First, let's perfect the rhythm and flow of your novel with these 10 super awesome,
super amazing tips. Number One (1): Consider the structure. This one's really simple because you've
already made an outline, right? Once you have an outline, it's a lot easier to see the overall
structure of your novel, and in turn, it's easier to map out the pacing. You don't want your novel
to feel like a continuous series of fast moments because then it'll seem rushed and exhausting.
But you also don't want it to be continuously slow because that's boring. Instead, your novel
should be a rollercoaster of low points and high points as well as slow points and fast points,
weaving in and out of one another. So analyze your outline. Are there too many fast points with
zero interruption? If that's the case, fiddle with the structure and see if you can break it up with
something slower. Number Two (2): Consider the character’s point of view. A lot of writers get so
caught up in their own head they forget to think about the character's experience. If a moment
feels slow to the character, it's appropriate for the pace to be slow as well. On the flip side,
if the moment feels fast then the pacing should reflect that. Take for example an explosion. Your
character's heart rate is up, people are running, it's absolute chaos. If you're writing a scene
like this out of slow pace, it's gonna feel like everything's happening in slow motion, which is
probably the exact opposite of what you want. Then there are times when you do want things to happen
in slow motion because that's how it feels to the character. Maybe their boyfriend just said I love
you for the first time, or their dad died and it feels like time has suddenly stopped. If the
moment feels slow for the character, it should have a slower pace in the story as well. Number
Three (3): Sentences. Sentence structure can do a world of good or a whole lot of damage
to the pacing of your novel. If you want to avoid issues, there's one simple rule you gotta follow:
longer sentences go in slower paced scenes, and shorter sentences go in fast scenes. Please
keep in mind it's extremely important to vary your sentence structure throughout your entire novel or
else your scenes are going to read as repetitive and choppy. No one's saying you can't have a few
long sentences in a fast scene, or a few short sentences in a slow scene. This is just a general
rule of thumb. Number Four (4): Details. Much like the last point, if you're writing a slower
paced scene, you heighten the details, and if you're writing a fast scene, you reign them in.
If your character is experiencing their first kiss, this is usually a slower, sensual moment.
So you can take your time describing the feeling of their lips pressed together, their heart rate,
their wavered breathing. But if you were to give the same amount of detail to a fight scene, this
would be really awkward. This is an issue that a lot of writers have when it comes to action.
They feel the need to describe every movement, and every maneuver, and every detail. Not only is this
boring as hell, it significantly slows down the pace. Remember your character's point of view.
Fight Scenes move fast, which means they're not going to remember every single movement, or notice
every detail. Focus on the most necessary visceral components and save the word dumps for the slower
scenes. Number Five (5): Ditch the filler. No one cares about your main character's nine to
five job, and no one cares about that one time your villain was rejected by that one girl in
the fifth grade. This shit is filler. It does absolutely nothing for the plot but the author
includes it because why the hell not? Problem is, it slows down the story to a glacial pace
and you do not want that. The reader should not be constantly slogging through unnecessary details.
So ditch the filler. I know you'll love it, but no one else does and it's not doing you
any favors. Number Six (6): Ditch filter words. Filter words are typically verbs that filter the
reader's experience through the main character’s. Hence the name. See, hear, realize, think, decide,
know—these are all filter words. Now every once in a while a filter word has its place,
but most of the time they just distance the reader from the story itself. On top of that,
they slow the pacing of the story especially in scenes that are not supposed to be slow at all.
Nine times out of ten, you don't need to filter the story through the main character's experience,
because the reader already knows that the main character is experiencing all of this stuff. So
instead of saying ‘she wondered if her mom was dead,’ just say, ‘was her mom dead?’ Instead of
saying, ‘she saw blue sky far ahead,’ just say, ‘blue sky stretched far ahead.’ Number Seven (7):
Consider the speed of the conversation. If your characters are having a relaxed conversation,
this will probably be a slower paced scene. You can take advantage of this by adding narrative
to the mix. Describe their body language, or their facial expressions, or changes to the
setting around them. If the dialogue is firing off, say for example, an argument. This is a
fast paced scene, so you're gonna wanna keep the narrative to a minimum. Tell the reader what
they absolutely need to know like who is speaking or any relevant actions. Body language and facial
expressions should be written sparingly and only when they paint a very important visual. Number
Eight (8): Cliffhangers. The goal behind pacing is to keep the reader interested without having long
lulls, or without making the story feel rushed. And ending the chapter with a cliffhanger is the
perfect way to address both of these issues. First off, cliffhangers keep the story moving.
The reader is not gonna wanna put the book down, because they need to know what happens
next. Second, a cliffhanger doesn't have to be a life or death, or fast paced at all. It could
be a conversation ending in a surprising way, or a sudden kiss. Implementing cliffhangers at the
end of your chapters will get readers turning the pages, and you can do this without turning your
story into one massive heart attack. Number Nine (9): Keep it moving. A lot of people struggle to
differentiate filler from transitions. Sure your character's school life may not be pertinent to
the plot, but sometimes they got to mention it for the sake of realism. You haven't forgotten
the fact that your character is a teenager in high school. They may be slaying vampires,
but they do have finals next week. So mention the stuff in brief transitions, and keep it moving.
Focus on moving your story from plot point to plot point. If weeks happen in between,
then explain it in a short transition. A paragraph at most. The readers know your characters have
lives outside of the story, and they appreciate you acknowledging it, but they also don't give
a shit and Number Ten (10): Get feedback. Beta readers and critique partners exist for a reason,
and that's to make your story suck less. Sometimes we're too close to our stories,
and something that feels impactful to us may seem incredibly dull to someone else. So ask
other people about your pacing. If they throw out words like dragged, or rushed, or sloppy,
or boring, you done fucked up. So that's all I got for you today. Pacing can be a pain in the ass but
if you implement these 10 tactics, you'll be on the right track. A huge thank you to Skillshare
for sponsoring this video. Not only are they so supportive of my channel and my writing,
but they're just such an amazing resource for creators. And as a creator, I really appreciate
that. It's not easy to be a creator, we need all the help we can get. (Talking to Buttercup) Is
it hard out there for you, Butter-boo? If you'd like to check them out, now is the perfect time
to do so because Skillshare is offering two months of Skillshare premium for FREE to the first 500
people who click the activation link below. That's 10s of 1000s of classes that you can take for up
to two months, completely for free. I highly recommend it, obviously, because I have my own
classes there. And because I take classes there. So, clearly I'm a fan. Click the link, do yourself
a solid. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays. And if you want
to be alerted as SOON as I upload, all you gotta do is ring that bell. (Singing) Ring that bell,
all you gotta do is ring that bell. Buttercup already rang that bell. What you gonna do? You're
gonna ring that bell! The Savior's Champion is available in ebook paperback, hardback and signed
hardback. You should totally pick up a copy for you. You can pick up a copy for your friends. You
can pick up a copy for your family. I don't care, just buy it! Okay? And be sure to follow me on
social media. I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and of course you can Tweet @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Soft bopping sounds) She loves it when I bounce
her. She just goes to sleep. I know it's warm and it makes you sleepy.