Question from an author: What about pacing

Pacing. I’m struggling with making the story flow. Some chapters or passages are really short while others seem adequately fleshed out.

Pacing is an issue that almost all writers face, so if you are struggling, know that you are not alone, so don't feel bad. The nice thing about this, is that pacing is actually an easy thing to fix.

We know that we can accelerate stories using one of two methods: A) the use of dialogue; or B) the use of action. Along the same lines, we can easily slow down stories using one of two methods: A) the use of narration instead of dialogue; and B) the elimination of anything moving forward in the story.

Where I see a lot of writes struggle with this stems from a desire to tell the reader everything. They feel that they cannot progress in the story without "telling the reader this crucial piece of information." The problem with this, is that too often, the reader really does not need that piece of information, or at least the amount you think that they need.

Now, this can be remedied in a couple of ways. The first is simply asking if this is necessary at this time, or if it can be discussed in a single sentence or a paragraph. Consider this. The heroine is amazed at the hero's villa in Chianti. What most authors would do is to go on and on about the history of the villa as they wander all around the entire estate. These authors think this is a great way to get a tour of the villa and to provide a depth and back story for the hero so we know how much family means to him.

OR...

The hero can say it has been in the family a long time and call it quits. Now the author advances the story to the heroine as she sits in her room. "Together they had strolled the villa for over 2 hours and she had heard of the entire Borghese family. Now she knew why it meant so much."

AND NOW WE MOVE ON WITH THE STORY.

We see the same thing happening when authors have the characters at one location and then they have to get to a restaurant across town. Instead of advancing the story, they fill it with mindless drivel of conversation as they drive across town. Now we have slowed the story down.

The simple thing to control the pacing is to think about plotting. Is this information that we really need? Is this information that is advancing the plot, or is simply a plot device to get the characters from one point to the next?

I want to return to the question of the author again. This author was concerned about "some chapters or passages are really short while others seem adequately fleshed out ." Again, the odds are, the shorter chapters do not need to have additional information put into the story. More likely, these are chapters that need to be cut, or blended into other chapters. I would also say, do not get hung up on the chapter length. There is no set formula for this. Yes, keeping things balanced is good, but if you have a shorter chapter, don't stress.

Hope this helps!