Pacing is like music for a story — it makes your scenes breathe, sprint, or linger, and getting that rhythm right is half craft and half intuition. I like to start a brainstorm with the macro picture: list your major beats (inciting incident, midpoint reversal, climax, resolution) and give each an emotional weight and rough page target. From there I sketch a chapter-by-chapter tempo map: label chapters fast, medium, or slow, and note where you need contrast. For example, a string of high-stakes chase scenes needs a quieter emotional chapter afterward
to let the reader process — think of the calm after
the storm in '
the name of the wind'.
Next I get granular. For every scene I ask: what does it change? If the answer is nothing, trim it or merge it. I map scenes on index cards (digital or physical) and on each card jot down
the goal, conflict, obstacle, and a suggested scene length in paragraphs or pages. I also tag scenes with sensory hooks and pacing tools: short sentences, clipped dialogue, and sensory density for speed; longer descriptive paragraphs, interiority, and layered motifs for slowing down. Techniques like the scene
sandwich (start with action, disrupt with reflection, end with action or a hook) are golden for controlling tempo.
Finally, I
run exercises:
Cut every third sentence in a slow scene to tighten rhythm; expand a fast scene with a 500-word interlude that focuses on character thought; read one chapter of a favorite author — maybe a tense chapter from 'Death Note' or a lyrical stretch from 'Never Let Me Go' — and annotate where the pace changes. I close my brainstorm by building a rolling 10-chapter preview to test momentum. After a few passes, the story usually
sings; it’s satisfying in a way that keeps me scribbling late into the night.