Story Pace The Speed That’s Just Right

The pace at which you tell a story is a critical part of story telling. Knowing if you’re moving too fast or too slow at any given time will help keep the flow of your story at its perfect speed. It’s not always easy to know what that ideal pace is, but instinct mixed with your best judgment will help you figure it out one way or another.
Just like tempo in music, stories have their own form of tempo. If you change the tempo of the song, you can turn a fantastic work of art into an indistinguishable shrill. The same thing can happen in writing. If you don’t follow the right pace, what might have been a masterpiece could read as much less. Pace is an element that no writer can afford to ignore.
Like most things in life though, saying its important is easy, but actually doing something once you know that isn’t always as easy. It’s not like you always sit down, begin writing, and the story hits the perfect pace right off. It isn’t always recognizable, or obvious from the get go. It could be at any stage of your writing process that you suddenly grip the natural pace for that story.
Writing is a journey of self discovery, and many times you just have to follow your gut and go with the pace that feels right to you. As we write, we grow, and that experience allows us to write better. That includes finding and writing the correct pace. Depending on personal situations, you may have editors, and others working who can help you find the correct pace. If you’re just starting out, this may not be something you’ve ever even considered. No matter what stage you’re at in your writing life though, pace is an important element in what you do.
My advice to writers when it comes to pace is to keep it in mind. When you’re reading lines, or writing them, make sure you give pace a thought during the process. It’s important to remember to look at the project as a whole, and not just as individual paragraphs and sentences. If all those don’t come together to establish the right pace, it may damage the flow. It is just another of the many factors that must be considered when writing. The story will be all the better for doing so.