The Writer's Connection(sm),
a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach(sm)

"The Creative Process of Writing is a
Liberating and Therapeutic Experience"

virtualwritingcoach.com
July 2003

In This Issue:

1. Preview
2. Publisher's Note
3. Creating the Story: Pacing and Progression
4. Getting into Action

1. Preview

The Writer's Connection explores the creative process of writing and the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and actions. We are an interactive community of authors and readers who share ideas to enhance our knowledge, skills, and experiences in writing fiction in any genre, but our emphasis remains mystery and suspense thrillers.
Published monthly, the Newsletter offers writing tips for authors, coaching suggestions, editing, and marketing information.

Topics are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and represent only his ideas on producing your first manuscript, and are provided to the general public. Because we are an interactive community of writers, other viewpoints are welcomed and may be printed in future monthly newsletters with permission from Keith Barton.

2. Publisher's Note

July, 2003

Dear Writer's Connection Subscriber,

This issue features pacing and progression in creating tension in your story.

3. Creating the Tension: Pacing and Progression

The typical novel runs about 350 pages and includes over 60 scenes. Within each scene is a "beat" which is described by screenwriters as any "action and reaction." Pacing and progression are by far the most difficult aspects of writing fiction and requires the most concentration. We've all sat through movies that "dragged too much." Or conversely, we've sat through 90 minutes of sound and visual effects without much plot or character development. Unfortunately many movies today are geared towards the pre-teen who is hooked on video games with the average attention span of a nanometer.

Please have someone read your manuscript particularly for pacing and progression. If your pacing is too slow there are several reasons for this:


1. You might be writing for yourself. Evidence of this includes esoteric topics and too much back story. For example, if you're writing a psychological thriller, the reader doesn't have to have a clinical history of the killer. The proverbial 'telling' generally leads to long, descriptive narratives that leaves the reader yawning and skipping ahead to the next dialogue or tag line. In action and suspense thrillers, it is much more interesting to 'show' the reader what is happening through actions of the characters.

2. There is not enough tension in your story. Mysteries and suspense thrillers rely on tension between the protagonist and villain. Raise the stakes if your story starts to meander.

3. Look at your subplots. If you have more than three then you haven't developed the main plot or it might be lagging so the writer is tempted to switch scenes and go to a subplot. This only confuses the reader and makes the writer's task more daunting when it comes to 'tying up loose ends.'

4. Your chapters may be too long. James Patterson's trademark is short 4-5 page chapters that in essence capture a single scene. Shorter chapters make for quicker pacing and suspense.

Here is an example of pacing and progression that is too slow:

"Japan attacked the U.S. on December 7, 1941. For months the Imperial Navy had been acquiring its fleet and positioned the armada off the southern coast of Japan. Yamamoto had received daily intelligence briefings that indicated that the U.S. Pacific fleet was running training missions from Pearl Harbor in the fall of 1941 with a lack of security that left many planes unattended."

I think you get the picture. The reader is patiently (or impatiently) awaiting some action. Who cares about daily intelligence briefings at the beginning of the story? This is the classic telling of the story instead of showing action scenes. A different introduction might be:

"The deck of the USS Arizona resembled a fireball as sailors poured from the bowels of the ship gasping from smoke and diesel fumes. The low clouds hid the mass of Jap Zeros buzzing the ships along 'battleship row.' Sirens, screams, and horns blasted the once tranquil harbor. Groans and shouts of men with pieces of flesh burned off their faces, limbs, and torsos filled the air, fueled by confusion and panic."

Now this opening grabs the reader starting with a visual scene of the attack. The author has ample time to delve into a back story later if he or she desires. The pacing is quick. The sentences are short. The action is visceral. The author now has his readers where he wants themon the deck of the USS Arizona.

What about pacing that is too fast? We've all been bombarded with lightening dialogue that leaves us confused or indifferent. An example follows:

"I'm sorry, ma'am but you must leave."
"What do you mean? I'll sue you."
"Go ahead, then."
"I'll have your store closed down by the end of the day."
"I don't take kindly to threats, ma'am."
"You think I'm bluffin'? My lawyer will deliver a restraining order by the close of business."

Now what is going on here? The reader may feel like the proverbial cat chasing its tail. The dialogue is sharp, but we don't have a beginning, middle, and end point. We don't know where this takes place other than a business of some type. Motivation is absent as is character development. The absence of setting and back story does little to set up the scene. Besides the beats (actions and reactions or tag lines in dialogue) in the above example are too quick and leave little to the reader's imagination. The author is pulling the reader through some extraneous dialogue, each line of which could contain a separate plot if the author so chose to develop the context for his argumentative characters.

Next month we will discuss writer's block and some interesting exercises to overcome this common nemesis.


4. Getting into Action

"Getting in to Action" is a monthly feature of The Writer's Connection. In this section of our Newsletter, we will discuss action steps the writer can take to improved his/her knowledge base in writing novels.

"This Month's Recommendation(s)"


1. Purchase a copy of Noah Lukeman's writers guide, The First Five Pages, Fireside Books, 2000. This handy compendium covers common errors writers make in setting up the story.

2. Go to the last book you didn't finish and see if the pacing was too fast or too slow. What would have kept you interested in the story.

3. Clancy and Patterson are icons in their field and write very differently. Consider the pacing and progression and what makes each writer 'pull it off' with their readership.


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Contact Information

Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281-893-5405
Fax: 281-893-1735
Web: http://www.virtualwritingcoach.com
E-Mail: keith@virtualwritingcoach.com
(c) Copyright 2003 A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
All rights reserved.

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The Writer's Connection Mission:

The Writer's Connection is dedicated to helping first-time authors create their first manuscript for publication and to offer an exchange of ideas and opinions from our readers who might be interested in becoming authors.

The Writer's Connection™ is a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton, Ph.D. and a registered trademark.

We would like The Writer's Connection to be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments, topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time. Send your e-mail to
keith@virtualwritingcoach.com.

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Archives

You can read previous issues of The Writer's Connection at our archive at http://www.virtualwritingcoach.com/archive.html.

About Keith Barton, Ph.D.

Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist for over thirty years. He is currently enrolled in MentorCoach and is accepting new clients. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina, consultant to Fortune 500 companies in executive development, founded and managed Texas Community Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing group home services to persons with mental retardation, and for the past 13 years founded and runs a clinical practice in Northwest Houston. He writes part-time with the goal of completing one novel a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate interest in helping others become attuned to their creative powers of storytelling.

Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family therapy and health psychology. He has published articles, made presentations and conducted workshops about:

Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self-esteem
Communication skills
Marital/relationship enrichment
Wellness issues
The relationship between psychology and spirituality

© 2003 The Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton.