Support for Indie Authors discussion

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about how fast-paced novels make for more interesting reads. I'm not sure if my novels suffer from the lack of fast pacing, but I would like to know how to speed up the pace. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Less words between actions? I mean, people say I write with a fast pace, but I just want to write stuff I enjoy reading even after editing it 50 times.

Mark wrote: "Lately, I've been hearing a lot about how fast-paced novels make for more interesting reads. I'm not sure if my novels suffer from the lack of fast pacing, but I would like to know how to speed up ..."

I sometimes write humor and humor should have a faster pace. I do it by making sure I trim all unnecessary words out. The beginnings and ends of scenes are abrupt and the scenes are as short as possible. I don't do a lot of describing.

Now, if you have not had reviews complaining about your pacing, it's probably fine. I wouldn't tweak with something that may not be broken. You might end up breaking it.

The fast-paced novels you're hearing about are probably mostly thrillers or teen books. For thrillers, you need action in every chapter, whether it's blowing something up, a gunfight, a twist, whatever. For teen books, they're faster reads because they skimp on description and often add more action because young readers have shorter attention spans. If you're not writing in either of these genres, speeding up your pace might not be necessary. It all depends on the tone of your book.

Mark wrote: "Lately, I've been hearing a lot about how fast-paced novels make for more interesting reads..."

First, I'll opine that I am quite dubious that fast-paced novels are more interesting, but I will allow that they may well be more fashionable. Artists following fashion, I believe is generally a mistake, as following fashion is pretty much diametrically opposed to creativity.

But that said, every author should do what they are moved to do -- even at the risk of being fashionable ;-) -- and the ability to write taut, fast-paced fiction is a good skill to have in one's repertoire.

V.M has good suggestions, and I'll add one: read the work aloud, or have it read, so that you can note the places where it drags. If you can't maintain the pace and tension while reciting it, the reader won't being able to when reading it. So look for the places where things slow for an extra breath: that extraneous "S/he said...", the clarification that isn't really needed.
Starting a sentence with "There was..." is a pause and a release of tension, so don't use it unless you want that.

And of course a book is not a sprint, so give the readers break. Some authors get frenetic and that is just tiring.

Keep in mind what your give up. You need to convey place and character in a few potent details; your characters tend to become defined heavily by their speech, so dialog becomes increasingly important -- you'll have fewer speech tags to lean on the clarify who's talking, but the reader has to be able to follow at the clip the scene moves; if they get lost in the dialog, they get lost.

It's a challenge and can be a fun one. But heed Dwayne's words: don't try to fix what ain't broke. Don't go against your grain in an attempt to conform to fashionable opinion.

Do refine your skills and be sensitive to the story's needs.

And have fun!

To answer that question, read it yourself. Does the story seem to drag on, expounding on superficial things that could be cut? Do you add too much detail in places that it is unnecesary? Do you have scenes that could be deleted without hurting the story? Do you have the tendency to add extra sentences or words that are not needed?

Descriptive writing is one thing, but an endless drone of words is another. Do your words engage the reader and keep them invested, or are they getting impatient for the story to resume its good parts that recapture them?

Morris

I have a rule of thumb that I use when I write. At the end of each page, I ask myself "what happened on that page that moved forward the plot?" At the very least, I make sure that each page has something interesting on it. (If you can convince enough folks that something interesting happened on the last page, they may continue to read the next page.)

I have to disagree somewhat that fast paced novels are more interesting. I think that well paced novels are easier to digest and it's just as easy for an author to rush as it is to drag on. Dwayne and Reese are also right in that genre should be considered. Look at whether or not the amount of action is appropriate to what's actually happening.

Christina wrote: "I have to disagree somewhat that fast paced novels are more interesting. I think that well paced novels are easier to digest and it's just as easy for an author to rush as it is to drag on. Dwayne ..."

Amen. And amen.

Properly paced is the key. But what defines "proper" depends on the story, genre, and (I suppose) intended audience.

Back in the days when recorded music was mostly sold on albums, great care was put into the "sequencing" of songs: the order in which the songs were presented. A truly great album experience was one where you got more pleasure from hearing the album all the way through, rather than listening to individual tracks. This was achieved by arranging songs so that the pace and mood changed and progressed in a pleasing manner. It was a gestalt kind of thing: the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

When every song has the same tempo, the same emotion, the same energy, you don't have an album that tells a story: you have an anthology of similar songs.

Books are the same way. They need peeks and valleys. Stress and relaxation. Keep the pace too frantic and the whole thing becomes nothing but a series of tactical situations loosely held together by a story. Linger too long on slow moving parts and you end up with a pile of words that creep by the reader without them making any impact: kills the buzz.

Balance is everything.

I find that if I start to get slow paced, it helps to convert some text into action or dialog to speed up the appearance of the flow. it doesn't truly change the pacing, but it can help to keep things feeling like they are flowing faster when the story can bog down.

If there is a big description that needs to be there about the nature of the different classes you can take in the magic school, instead of describing them, have characters converse about them while touring the school grounds. (for example)

Writing like that helps me keep the extra information down and the relevant information to the story up front! If the characters don't feel the need to explain everything, then that text could probably have been left out anyway! :)

Hope that helps.

I would think it depends on how fast a person can read but from an author standpoint? Hmm..never really considered it, I'd say use less descriptions when describing things but sometimes that's the best part.

I think this is something I get right. At least I attracted this comment from Holly Lisle.

"R Billing takes hard SF, accelerates it way past the speed of light, and runs it directly into a wall of suspense that knocks you breathless."

There are a few things that I do to make this happen.

Keep the backstory out of the main thread, at least until a minor character asks, "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

Keep the viewpoint tight. In a fight or chase sit "behind the eyes" of the lead character. Show only what they see and in the order they see it.

Keep sentences short UNLESS you want to stop the action because the character has lost this battle.

The sun was sinking, and the room was growing noticeably darker, when Arthur unlocked the door. This time there were four guards with him. Jane rolled off the bed, on the side away from the door, and stood glaring at Arthur.
‘Don't you ever knock? Or ask before bringing company?’ she snarled.
‘Jane, my patience is ended. You're going to talk.’ Then, to the guards, ‘I want her on the divan, and you're to hold her down while I inject her.

(chapter break)

The guards began to move around the divan towards Jane. She glanced quickly at the nearest man's body armour. Unfortunately it covered all the places she could usefully kick. Suddenly, in a single smooth movement, she picked the hooded blue dress off the floor and threw it over his head. He raised his arms instinctively, and she hooked one leg behind his knees and pushed. He slowly toppled backwards, crashing heavily on top of the next guard, who was behind him. ‘Two down,’ she breathed. The two remaining guards rushed to help, leaving Arthur standing by the door, the injector in his right hand.
Jane bounded across the divan and leaped headlong at the open doorway. Arthur moved to block her, but she piled into him and knocked him off balance, slamming his left cheek into the doorframe. Then she was in the corridor and running, dimly aware of a stinging sensation at her neck.
The corridor was getting longer, and her legs were getting heavier. She forced herself to keep going, despite the increasing heaviness of her... Of her...
As she slid to the floor, she heard Arthur saying, ‘That was a damned shambles, wasn't it? If I hadn't got her with the injector, we'd have lost her and then...’ consciousness faded away, a little at a time.