7 Tips on Mastering Your Story's Pacing To Keep Readers Hooked

Рет қаралды 12,094

Күн бұрын

In this video, we cover 7 tips for having a better understanding of pacing an how it applies to your story. This video is mostly an introduction to pacing! Discover how pacing can make or break a story, and learn valuable tips on how to master it.
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Chapters:
00:00 Understanding Pacing
01:46 Part 1: Know where you're starting and where you're going
07:55 Part 2: Be in control of your dials
09:31 Part 3: Be selective about information (hooks)
11:50 Part 4: Introspection and response mechanisms
14:11 Part 5: Find story mechanisms to toggle the pacing
15:15 Part 6: Vary sentence length, paragraph length, and chapter length
15:58 Part 7: Start to really consider pacing after your first draft
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Пікірлер: 28

@wrestlingwithwords 7 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching!... And Check out these videos too: Complex Characters are NOTHING Without These Two Things - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nr1mjNmovJipmYU.html 4 Tips on Writing the Beginning of Your Story - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kJaYmL151NGXfnU.html . . . Also, there is a spelling error buried in the video... If you find it, Congrats! :)

@gonaye1 Күн бұрын

Loved the point about reading the story back to yourself to get a feel for it. I really like using the ‘Speak Text’ function on my phone to listen to my story… it really helps me decide if I’m immersed, invested, bored or confused.

@Drudenfusz 7 күн бұрын

The main reason why I love the Kishotenketsu approach is that the story pattern also automatically brings that pacing wave with it. Especially if one does that pattern not just for the narrative overall, but for every scene.

@BadNessie 7 күн бұрын

Very helpful thoughts! I especially love when the tension of the current part of the story is heavily reflected in the way that the sentences are built. John Le Carré is masterfully doing that in The Night Manager, for example. The protagonist Jonathan gets into a stressful situation and while Carré usually describes scenes and actions carefully, now he builds an even stronger sense of urgency by boiling each sentence down to the bare minimum, going into hyperfocus on what's really important right now. I found that to be a great show-don't-tell way to underline the pacing of the plot's section.

@wrestlingwithwords 7 күн бұрын

Great points!!! And thank you for the comment, I’m glad this was helpful!

@DesOttsel 5 күн бұрын

I used a lot of flashbacks in my first novel because it was focused on grief and the character was always looking to the past so the story reflected that in the structure, but I was always doubting the pacing

@ComicPower Күн бұрын

This is helpful because i was just trusting my gut

@tallaaron1115 7 күн бұрын

Thank you for providing great videos. I am currently working on my third book now, almost fourth if I am honest as it is already being mentally plotted. Pacing I am told is not an issue I am having. I am struggling with the bits about an adventure and a saga. Adventure being a small cast of main characters (1-3?) and the adventure they are thrust or dive into. Where Sagas tend to be multiple main characters who you trade on and off as the story goes to develop a wider view of the world and the actions present. Trying to find the balance of the saga is where I am semi struggling with things. My first book did okay (given it was a fist book with little to no marketing). My second book is on the path to doing better then the first, and my third should hopefully follow that trend but I keep falling back to how many characters I need to juggle. With my RPG experience, it is not terribly difficult, but at the same time it does cause some interesting complications. Any ideas on this would be amazing if you have any.

@lucasost318 7 күн бұрын

So far great vid and tips! Looking forward for more

@wrestlingwithwords 7 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching and for your comment!

@ohnojojo2262 7 күн бұрын

This is a really good breakdown on something that strikes me as kind of nebulous when presented in other videos. This really helped me out, and I'll definitely check out more videos.

@wrestlingwithwords 7 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for watching and I’m glad this was helpful!!

@cash1833 7 күн бұрын

Wonderful video! Very helpful!

@wrestlingwithwords 7 күн бұрын

I’m so glad! Thank you for watching!

@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve 7 күн бұрын

Good pacing and voice. I checked the audio and the midrange is solid, the spikes (sound outside the midrange; I do not know terminology) within acceptable limits. You do have a slightly louder volume between about 2:17 and 7:28 that I notice, but most will not. I am not seeing anyone else go into theory like this, which is great. It makes your channel stand out. I would start a playlist and include videos like this in a writing theory category. 17 minutes is an acceptable time, esp. since the even pacing means that using settings to increase playback speed will allow even shorter times. I would, when time, energy, and enthusiasm permit, do a text analysis of one book showing how to apply these principles. And then I would link the two postings. That would make for a more powerful message. As to myself, I am still in outlining. I finally figured out the system so that I ask myself the leading questions, like what is the hook in this chapter, that are allowing/forcing me to put things in concrete form and in a logical order. And things are getting worse for the protagonist now.

@wrestlingwithwords 7 күн бұрын

Thank you for the comment and for noticing the “better” sound! I have adjusted a few things and leveled things out. Also, thank you for the kind words. This is something I will probably revisit, and that I will go into more detail on in the future. Also, glad to hear you’re still working away at your manuscript! So great to hear!

@THEJASKumar-ui7qw 3 күн бұрын

Please do a video about how to do a perfect twist ft-->OLDBOY SEVEN, FIGHT CLUB, PRESTIGE, USUAL SUSPECTS

@trikebeatstrexnodiff 7 күн бұрын

10:48 The first book of my series suffers from that "unanswered questions" part. It takes place at a small town and I asked so many questions but no answers (they will be answered in the later books) due to the obvious lack of information of the main character. Am I doing it wrong? Should I add new plot points where I come up with new questions just to answer them so that the readers are going to trust me on getting their questions answered in the later books? This is probably my biggest issue with my book and I have no idea how to solve it. Thanks for the video btw! I do wonder how can we keep the readers engaged (without drowning them in more questions lol) in that slope where after the climax of a tension happens and we are descending down to the valley?

@RoosSkywalker 7 күн бұрын

My favourite tactic is to offer two explanations or have the same explanation but plant a subtle detail that changes the entire meaning of the explanation later in the story, letting readers experience an "aha!" moment.

@trikebeatstrexnodiff 6 күн бұрын

@@RoosSkywalker Thank you! I had never thought about that and that seems a really great idea but the thing is, it is important the questions are not even mildly answered in the first book. And if I would give a false information/answer then the readers are not gonna trust me anymore? I mean I guees I could try other characters coming up with answers for those questions but they all are going to be far from the truth which I think might result in making the reader not trust in me, also questioning the sanity of those characters rather than them having an "aha!" moment? The readers might think the characters might be mentally not very 'clever' even 😅

@pop-punkreptile5827 3 күн бұрын

@@trikebeatstrexnodiff I think as long as a few questions are answered in the first book, maybe not the important ones, but something that makes the reader feel some level of progression may be enough to get them to pick up the sequel book

@KrymsonScale 5 күн бұрын

This made thinking about and fixing pacing more abstract and harder to talk about.

@wrestlingwithwords 5 күн бұрын

Hey! Sorry to hear that. Sometimes the way a topic is phrased can resonate with some people while missing the mark with others. The good thing is, is that there should be a great deal of other articles or videos out there that might be able to help you understand pacing and how to fix it if it’s a problem in your own work.

@barsabe 6 күн бұрын

Funny thing is this video is terribly paced

@wrestlingwithwords 6 күн бұрын

Congrats! I knew someone was going to say this! Thank you for the comment and for watching, I appreciate you regardless.

@barsabe 5 күн бұрын

@@wrestlingwithwords i wanted to watch it, though not because i'm bad at pacing. apparently that's my only good quality as a human being. i had to skim through the bits and... the advice is surprisingly generic (read any editorial book) and unhelpful. been chronically online long enough to test all of them, and they all certainly have potential, like this video had before you made it. potential is broad enough to be anything, but the way you presented things with such conviction makes it all go downhill. weird that you didn't mean general story elements in the dials section but just how detailed things are. it is true if a section of a tale isn't carried by any momentum, shortening the boredom may be a wise decision--but things don't necessarily work that way. you may take the shine out of the glass, smile out of a face, and lose more than the word count: the weight and presence of that section. making it worse than a boring part, making it simply a mandatory part. you could add more details, on the other hand, and it _could_ simply rework itself into a perfect component of the emotional journey, creating its own slower momentum within, that doesn't necessarily gallop the reader, but occupies her just enough to not get stale. look at things from your side and yet see through, that's what an editor should be able to do.