How to PACE YOUR STORY (Write Description Like a MASTER)

what's up my friend Abbi here and welcome back to writers life wednesdays where we come together to help you make your story matter today we are talking about pacing more specifically the secret to perfect pacing in this episode I'm going to share with you the techniques that I always use to make sure that my pacing isn't too fast isn't too slow but just right it's actually a really simple principle that you can apply to any style of writing in any genre see I used to question my pacing a lot I would constantly be asking my beta readers how was the pacing was the two fastest just how was the pacing I don't know how the pacing was help me please not that I don't ask my beta readers about pacing anymore of course I do it's a great question to ask your beta readers but knowing the secret to perfect pacing has totally changed the way I write okay so before we get started I just have to establish what pacing even means by definition it means the rate or speed at which something changes or develops basically how fast or slow the scenes in your story flow I did not mean to rhyme just then I like to think about it in two different categories large-scale pacing and small-scale pacing large-scale pacing is looking at the big picture this happens in your outlining process when you're figuring out your story structure and that's why I use the three action story structures so much because it has story pacing large-scale pacing built into it the large-scale pacing in a story can feel off if a plot point happens to suddenly are too close to other pivotal moments in your story for instance if your inciting incident happens like thirty percent into your story the pacing will feel too slow because it just takes too long for something important to have or let's say your plot twist happens right after the inciting incident in that case your pacing will feel too fast because you have these two pivotal moments back-to-back so for a large-scale pacing you can do one of two things you can either cross your fingers and really hope that it just turns out right or you can use story structure guys there's a reason why I'm always talking about the three-act story structure because it is tried and true all of my favorite stories use this story structure and none of them feel boring predictable or like a knockoff of somebody else's story and that's because story structure does not make your story predictable instead it gives your story a foundation it gives you a strong template to use so that you don't have to constantly be second-guessing yourself you can just go about crafting your brilliant unique story and feel confident about it that's what I mean when I talk about large-scale pacing it's all in the three-act story structure which has personally changed the way I write and also so many other people in this community so if you want to learn more about the three-act story structure I made a whole in depth video series about it you can check that out right here so let's say you used the three-act story structure to structure your story and you're not concerned about the large scale pacing but you're more concerned about the in-between moments between your pivotal plot points this is what I call small-scale pacing which is the pacing of individual scenes and this is really all about description and narrative description paints the picture of what's happening narrative tells you how the characters perceive what's happening so Before we jump into these two really important elements of story I just want to share with you the secret to perfect pacing that I mentioned before the intro it's not really like a secret it's more like just a basic rule of psychology and your brain while reading you see everything happening at the pace at which you read you're like well duh a B isn't that common sense yes it's common sense but when's the last time you thought about your pacing like this as you're reading a story your brain is translating words on a page into the language of your imagination which is imagery you see everything happening like a movie playing in your mind which means this movie can only play as fast as your brain can read and piece together the information to give you a coherent image makes sense right well that means you can manipulate the speed at which your reader is watching these events take place and that's essentially what pacing is so let's circle back real quick to that analogy I used about seeing your book like a movie I'm pretty sure this is like a universal thing at least it always happens to me I see my stories like a movie playing in my head it looks real I'm watching it happen as if it's in front of me that being said just like a movie some scenes will be slower some scenes will be quicker you might see some moments in slow motion you might see some moments flashing lightning fast like a montage this is how you experience your story in your head before you write it all down it's super dynamic and our job as writers is to keep that pacing feeling the same when we write it so that our reader has the same imaginative experience the same dynamic experience that we had dreaming it all up but when you go to write it down you're not sure how to do this I get it I totally get it and that's why we have to dig deep into those two really important elements of a scene description and narrative first let's talk about description because that's what paints the picture of what's happening whenever someone asks me what is too much description what is too little description I have a better question for them why does this description matter just like we asked ourselves with everything else about story why does it matter if you go into detail describing something that does not matter to the story or the characters you are essentially slowing down your pacing for no reason whatsoever always return to why it matters you can see your brain can only process so much information in fact our subconscious is constantly weeding out tons of irrelevant information that we process all day long like millions of pieces of information that your conscious mind never sees because it never went through the need-to-know door in your mind that's just all the information that we are surrounded by living our everyday lives because if your conscious mind had to think about all of it you would not be able to get anything done you probably wouldn't even be able to function but when it comes to reading a book everything is different because now our conscious mind is focusing on reading this book and we are processing this information one word at a time that means in the background your brain is saying you need to know this and that means when an author slows down the pacing with irrelevant information your brain is frustrated it's frustrating because it doesn't matter we have devoted our conscious attention to this story and now you are giving me irrelevant information how dare you that's what the conscious says to the subconscious than the subconscious it's like I didn't do anything you said you wanted to read this book that's one of the biggest problems that writers run into when writing description they see this image in their head and they want to make the reader see it the same way but the common mistake that a lot of writers fall into is going into too much detail in order to deliver that image see unlike an image your brain has to translate words into a picture in your mind so your readers attention zeroes in on the one thing that you are currently describing earlier I said that I see my story like a movie in my mind but unlike the medium of film where you can show a lot more in a shorter period of time when someone's reading a book it takes longer for them to read it and piece together the information to create that image in their mind but that's the part you have to remember they're piecing it together in their mind word by word that's why writers often use a lot of words to describe a setting or location in a book when in a movie you can just flash an image on the screen and your brain reads all that information like that okay ABI so are you saying that there's no hope and you just have to go into these giant long descriptions for everything no absolutely not instead I would like to suggest that less is more and we can actually describe a lot in very few words we can create a scrumptious visual experience for our reader without having to put them through an exhausting information overload we can make our readers see our stories like a movie in their mind how well first we have to study the art of making a story visual the best way to do this reading screenplay preferably screenplays for movies that have incredibly well done natural feeling pacing that you love I'm not gonna tell you what screenplays to read it just pick your favorites study them watch that scene in the movie then read that scene in the script how much description did the writer use to show the director what was happening now I know what you might be thinking I'm not a screenwriter I know some of you are but some of you aren't and you might think that writing a novel is a totally different thing and in a lot of ways it is but you can learn from screenwriters just like I use story examples on this channel in a lot of my videos featuring clips from some of my favorite films that's how I learned to make my stories more visual and immersive how I see it a story as a story as a story and the cool thing about screenplays is that they were written not for someone to read like a book they were written for someone to read like a movie they were written with the intention of finding their way to the desk of a director or producer somewhere and with the intention of that director or producer reading that screenplay and having a visual immersive experience so let me show you an example of what I'm talking about when I say that you can describe a lot in very few words let's take for example the screenplay for Dunkirk the opening shot is described like this fade in paper falling like snow six young filthy Tommy's raised their heads along a deserted street checking rubbish bins windows I particularly love those four words paper falling like snow that's literally all you need to say and I see it okay let's do another example describing something a little more complicated the matrix neo reaches out to touch the mirror and his fingers disappear beneath the rippling surface quickly he tries to pull his fingers out but the mirror stretches and long rubbery strands like mirrored taffy stuck to his fingertips Morpheus have you ever had a dream neo that you were so sure was real the strands thin like rubber cement as he pulls away until the fragile wisps of mirror thread break Morpheus what if you were unable to wake from that dream neo how would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world neo looks at his hand fingers distended into mirrored icicles that begin to melt rapidly dripping running like wax on his fingers spreading across his palm where he sees his face reflected neo this can't be Morpheus he what be real the mirror gel seems to come to life racing crawling up his arms like hundreds of insects what did you just see probably something like this have you ever had a dream neo that you were so sure was real what if you were able to wake from that dream how would you know the difference between the dream world and the real this can be won be real that was a pretty imaginative complicated element to describe yet the writer kept the pacing of the scene short and sharp so that the description didn't slow it down and you saw in the script before you even watch that clip that you needed very little description to relay the need-to-know information it took me 35 seconds to read that excerpt of the screenplay it took you 32 seconds to watch that clip of the movie that's what I mean by seeing everything happening at the pace at which you read I've talked about this before with fight scenes if you want your reader to see fast action then you better write it so that your reader can read it fast and see it happening fast less words and shorter sentences equal faster to read more words and longer sentences equal slower to read simply put you can play with the reading speed by making events happen quicker or slower and making your descriptions shorter or longer now let's talk about narrative the other thing that can totally make or break your pacing when I say narrative I'm talking about your characters perception of what's happening their internal thoughts and decision-making process you might have a different definition of this word but I'm just letting you know what I mean when I say it narrative is pretty unique to the novel writing process if you want to include internal thoughts and decision-making processes in film without the use of dialogue then usually have to rely upon voice-over narration unless you're disney then you create a franchise friendly musical number to unload all your characters deepest fears and desires but neither option is a guaranteed win some people love it some people hate however when you're writing a novel you have total creative freedom you can launch into a piece of narrative and go deep into your characters internal thoughts and decision-making process or you can just give us little tastes and pieces of their internal conflict as the story progresses however you want to do it is totally up to you this is your art to do your way but always remember that rule of pacing you see everything happening at the page at which you read and every time you go into an internal thought process you hit the pause button on what's happening to go deeper into why it matters but I'm not going to tell you how to write narrative there are many ways to write narrative and that's part of your writing style that's unique to you there's no one-size-fits-all method the more you write in practice and develop your style the easier it will become to write a compelling narrative it can also be super helpful to study how your favorite books balance the description and the narrative go through a copy of your favorite book with two different colored highlighters and highlight first the description the picture that's being painted of what's happening and then highlight the narrative which is how your how the characters are perceiving it this isn't a copy what another author has done it's just a great exercise to see how other writers a balanced narrative and description which is pacing or if you don't want to write all over your favorite books I understand you can just do this exercise in your head while you're reading so let's recap what we talked about today the golden rule of pacing you see everything happening at the pace at which you read you can create visual experiences for your reader by playing with pacing longer descriptions equal slower reading time and a slower experience shorter descriptions equal faster reading time and a faster experience study your favorite films how did they turn a description into a visual experience how many words do you actually need to paint a picture for your audience okay boom that's it that's my best advice for writing good pacing into your story now it's time for you to talk to me comment below and tell me what is one really really good example of excellent pacing in a book for a movie what can you learn from that as a writer smash that like button if you liked this video and be sure to subscribe to this channel if you haven't already because I post writing videos every single Wednesday and I would love to have you here in the community also be sure to check out my patreon because that's where we go beyond videos and takes retelling to the next level the patreon community is not only the best way to support what I'm doing here on YouTube but also connect personally with me and give better guidance on your story so go to patreon.com/scishow we can rock on [Music]

Channel: Abbie Emmons

Views: 128,500

Keywords: how to pace a book, pacing, description, how to describe things in a novel

Id: JgoXgg4qcPg

Length: 17min 27sec (1047 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 11 2019