The Mysterious Art of Pace by Paddy Tyrrell

I don’t often have the opportunity to access contributions about the world of writing from such an experienced group. So it has been a pleasure to read the blogs on this site. I am still a debutante, with just one fantasy book completed, and keen to soak up as much as I can about the art of writing and the challenges of publication.

Participating in the Brit Writers Publishing Programme is part of my learning curve. When Imran suggested that since I enjoyed reading the blogs here I should write one, I had plenty of time to think about the subject on my trip home, deep in the marshlands the French call the ‘Green Venice’. As usual for part of the journey I had my head buried in a book. Like most writers, I love reading and not just books from my cherished fantasy genre. In fact I’ve recently been engrossed by thrillers penned by American authors, but they have started me thinking yet again about the thorny question of pace.

What was noticeable about all of these books was a common structure of short chapters, each of which ended on a cliff hanger with the hero or heroine in dire circumstances from which it seemed impossible to escape. Now I love the rattling pace and excitement this gives to the book but after a few reads by the same author the formulaic approach intruded and marred my satisfaction with both book and writer. The worst instance was one where the final sentence in each chapter seemed to have been added as an afterthought (a famous author but perhaps over- prodded by a demanding editor?) and had no relation to what transpired either in the next chapter or further along in the book.  

At the other extreme, I recall the requirement in my student days to read copious volumes of Proust. The pace was so slow it astonished me that anyone ever survived reading the first couple of books. Yet, as I drowned myself in the words, I was lulled into the beauty and gentleness of their rhythm and wanted to read on forever.

So how to manage the pace of my own writing? Fantasy needs excitement and adventure but it cannot depend on that alone. There must be time to create a world outside our own, a culture that has its own laws, and characters who grow within and through their adventures. Does each genre have its own pace related demands or difficulties?  I would be really interested in how other authors here solve the issue of pace within their writing and how much the challenges of the genre influence your approach.

By Paddy Tyrrell

The Unofficial 'Brit Writers and Writers Everywhere' blog.