Most Common Writing Errors (ONGOING)

Slow Pacing Isn't Bad

This chapter talks about the difference between slow pacing and slow pacing.

Read the disclaimer if you haven't already.

Slow pacing isn't inherently bad.

Too many times I've seen judges in contests or reviewers say that the "pacing is slow" as a criticism. I've read many of the books they've judged/reviewed, and I always found myself confused when I read those reviews because the pacing in the stories are purposefully slow, and more often than not, done right.

Slow pacing is just a pacing choice, but it isn't bad. There is a major difference between having slow pacing, and having slow pacing. Slow pacing is when the plot unfolds at a slower rate, but things are still happening.

For example, Blade Runner 2049, my favorite movie ever. It's extremely slow, but every scene contributes to the plot. Every. Single. Scene. There isn't a single filler scene or scene that's unnecessary, it's just slow because there's a lot going on and the director and screenwriters don't want to overwhelm the audience.

That's how slow pacing works. It's when a story is slow, but that's a choice because the writer is trying to build tension or keep you hooked on every little detail.

For example, if you're a reader of my works, you'll know Like Crazy has a slower pace. It's closer to being in the middle than completely slow, but it takes time to build toward the action. In the beginning of the story, you start with an intense scene where death and violence occurs, then it cools down to do world and character building, along with setting up the future major plot events that eventually lead to the big, action-packed tower siege. Then it cools down again, then it heats back up, etc. etc.

Andor, the Star Wars show, is another example of slow pacing done right. The 12-episode show is broken into four arcs. Per arc, you have two episodes of character and world building that set up the plot (along with some minor action here and there), then you have the final episode that explodes with what the previous episodes were building to.

Some people dislike slow pacing, and that's fine, but that doesn't mean a book or show having slow pacing is a flaw. It just means you don't like it. Depending on the story you're telling, you might need slow pacing.

However, there are times the pacing is slow, and not in a good way. For example, the Ahsoka Star Wars TV show has atrocious pacing. It's not slow-paced, it's slow-paced. Instead of every scene contributing to the plot or characters, you have long shots of characters walking, or ships landing, or characters staring at each other instead of saying their lines, etc.

Those are filler shots to pad the runtime. The episodes are over forty minutes each, but if you cut out those filler shots, slow walking, slow line delivery, etc., the episodes would be more like twenty minutes.

Slow pacing is when the story is slow for no reason. Most superhero movies nowadays include pointless filler scenes that don't contribute anything.

Or, on the opposite side, they include something important, but they could've been condensed.

Wonder Woman 1984 is an example of this. The opening scene is too long and unnecessary. It could have been set up in a different, more impactful, and more concise way.

Along with that, the mall scene after that is too long too. I'd strongly suggest watching The Closer Look's video on Wonder Woman since he does a deep dive on conciseness and combining scenes. The Closer Look is a good YouTuber for anyone aspiring to be a screenwriter. But, just like with this book, take everything with a grain of salt. There are some pieces of advice he gives that might work, and other pieces that might not. Everyone has different interpretations of media, keep that in mind.

But anyway, back on topic, this is where the phrase "kill your darlings" comes from. By basic definition, this means to get rid of unnecessary scenes, characters, plotlines, etc. in order to strengthen your story.

Let's say you wrote a scene you are extremely proud of. The characters have a funny dynamic where they make jokes. The scene is well-written, has perfect grammar, and describes the environment the characters are in clearly. The scene is awesome from your perspective. There's just one issue: it adds nothing to the story.

My advice: get rid of it, or find a way to incorporate it into the story.

Kill your darlings refers to making hard choices to cut content from your book, no matter how much you love it, to strengthen your story.

Do not delete these scenes permanently. Save them and see if you can incorporate them into another book, or edit it later and make an entire book centered around it, or use it later in the same book with new context.

I'll cover kill your darlings in a more detailed way in a future chapter, but that's a basic look at what it means. I'll also cover how to combine scenes and sentences later. Remember, every scene should be doing a lot for the story, whether it be worldbuilding, theme building, plot building, character building, etc. Try to do at least two things per scene, but the more you can do in one scene without it feeling overwhelming, the better.

I'll give a brief example of what I mean. In Andor, one of the early episodes we're introduced to a security officer who wants to do his job. In one scene, he's standing in front of his boss at attention. The boss comments on how the security officer modified his uniform. This is such subtle characterization, showing the security officer takes his job seriously, maybe too seriously. 

This scene also provides plot details and worldbuilding. In one short scene, you get awesome characterization, plot movement, and worldbuilding about the security office on that planet and how no one (other than the security officer I'm talking about) takes their jobs seriously. That's how you do multiple things in a scene without it feeling overwhelming.

It's brilliant, really.

Now, moving on.

If your story has too much redundancy in the writing (i.e., repetitive words, phrases, or ideas), too many unnecessary scenes, or scenes that are drawn out for no reason, you will have slow pacing, not slow pacing.

Long story short, slow pacing isn't bad. It only becomes slow when you're doing the things I mentioned in this chapter, like dragging out scenes with unnecessary information.

Also, long paragraphs aren't bad unless they're done too often and/or don't include enough relevant, necessary info to warrant the long paragraph being there. Remember a standard paragraph is 5-10 sentences depending on the length of the sentences. Most writers recommend 100-200 words, but of course, in creative writing, you bend and break those recommendations on a daily basis. I'd suggest writing a paragraph that feels complete and worry about the word recommendations later.

To people reading on phone, that paragraph ^^ looks long, right? But it's actually below average. It's only seventy-nine words and four sentences.. So if you're reading on phone and think a book has too many long paragraphs, keep in mind that many times, the paragraphs are likely standard length, it's just the screen size difference. That's not your fault or the author's, that's just something to keep in mind.

I don't think there's much more to say without overwhelming you or repeating myself, so I'll stop and prepare for the two future chapters that cover killing your darlings and brevity (we'll talk about what this means later).

This chapter was meant to be more of an open discussion, hence why there weren't any sections. I hope nothing was confusing, and please ask if you have questions. I hope this chapter was helpful!

Next three chapters:

1) Grammar

2) Texting Slangs

3) Pictures & Emphasis

~End~

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