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Writing Excuses Season Four Episode Six: James Dashner's Lessons on Pacing
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/02/14/writing-excuses-4-6-pacing-with-james-dashner/
Key points: Use genuinely intriguing mysteries and real information to make readers keep reading, not false reveals. Show readers interesting things, don't conceal boring stuff, and they'll keep reading. Mysteries, revelations, disasters, action scenes -- these keep the reader going, so spread them out and mix them up. Consider chapter length, sentence length, even dialogue tags as your pacing tools, and think about how to use them to make it interesting for the reader from beginning to end.
( Inside a wet cardboard box, seeping slowly in the rain... )
[Brandon] We want to end with a writing prompt. I think we'll go ahead and use James Dashner's wet box writing prompt. Someone opens a door and finds a wet cardboard box on their doorstep. They reach down and pick it up. It's seeping something...
[James] Disgusting.
[Brandon] Disgusting, of course.
[Dan] It could be seeping something happy.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/02/14/writing-excuses-4-6-pacing-with-james-dashner/
Key points: Use genuinely intriguing mysteries and real information to make readers keep reading, not false reveals. Show readers interesting things, don't conceal boring stuff, and they'll keep reading. Mysteries, revelations, disasters, action scenes -- these keep the reader going, so spread them out and mix them up. Consider chapter length, sentence length, even dialogue tags as your pacing tools, and think about how to use them to make it interesting for the reader from beginning to end.
( Inside a wet cardboard box, seeping slowly in the rain... )
[Brandon] We want to end with a writing prompt. I think we'll go ahead and use James Dashner's wet box writing prompt. Someone opens a door and finds a wet cardboard box on their doorstep. They reach down and pick it up. It's seeping something...
[James] Disgusting.
[Brandon] Disgusting, of course.
[Dan] It could be seeping something happy.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
