How can you improve your story's pacing with editing?

Pacing is the rhythm and speed of your story, and it can make or break your reader's engagement. A well-paced story keeps the reader hooked, curious, and emotionally invested, while a poorly paced one can bore, confuse, or frustrate them. Editing is a crucial stage to improve your story's pacing, and in this article, we'll share some tips on how to do it.

1 Identify your story's structure

Before you edit your story's pacing, you need to have a clear idea of your story's structure. This means knowing the main plot points, the arc of your protagonist, the subplots, and the themes. You can use different frameworks, such as the three-act structure, the hero's journey, or the snowflake method, to map out your story's structure. This will help you see the big picture and identify any gaps, inconsistencies, or redundancies in your story.

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Ehab Soltan
* Avoid boredom and monotony by mixing short and long sentences to create a dynamic rhythm, and cutting out unnecessary details. *Differentiating between action scenes and dialogue so that action scenes are faster-paced, while dialogue allows for character development and adds a different rhythm. * Pay attention to using punctuation marks, especially with short, strong sentences *Smooth transitions between scenes can maintain momentum, and encourage readers to continue by ending a chapter or scene with an unresolved question or situation. * Suspense… through controlling the flow of information so that the information is gradually revealed.
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Barida Alawa

Script Writer | Content Writer | Community manager | Creative Director | Event Manager
During the editing process, you may identify scenes that require brevity or scenes that conclude abruptly. This aids in establishing a balanced pace within your story and eliminates overly long and unnecessary dialogues between characters.
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2 Vary your scene lengths

One way to improve your story's pacing is to vary your scene lengths according to the mood, tension, and purpose of each scene. Generally, shorter scenes create a faster pace and increase the suspense, while longer scenes create a slower pace and allow for more exploration and development. You can use shorter scenes to show action, conflict, or climax, and longer scenes to show exposition, reflection, or resolution. You can also use transitions, such as time jumps, changes of location, or shifts of perspective, to connect your scenes smoothly.

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Manohar Grandhi

Get rid of Insomnia forever in 45 days with the Insomnia Switch-Off Method™️.I help IT professionals to sleep well and stay on top of their game. Talk to me if you want freedom from Insomnia. Author "My Sleepless Nights”
'Variety is the spice of life' when things are uniform the brain predicts the pattern. Then it conserves the energy and slowly interest is lost. So varying the lengths is a good idea.
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3 Balance your dialogue and narration

Another way to improve your story's pacing is to balance your dialogue and narration. Dialogue is a great tool to reveal character, advance the plot, and create conflict, but too much dialogue can make your story feel static and unrealistic. Narration is a great tool to describe the setting, convey the mood, and provide backstory, but too much narration can make your story feel dull and distant. You can use dialogue to show rather than tell, and narration to summarize rather than dramatize. You can also use dialogue tags, beats, and subtext to enhance your dialogue and narration.

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Priya Chaudhary

LL.M., NLU Delhi (2022-23) | Advocate | Content Writer | Young MCIArb
One way to determine if your story is balanced in terms of dialogue and narration is to keep picturising/reading softly as you write. In this way, you will be able to assess if one is dominating over the other and rectify it accordingly.
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4 Cut the fluff

When writing a story, it's important to avoid unnecessary or irrelevant details that don't contribute to the main goal of the scene, reveal something new about the character or situation, fit with the tone and style of the story, or add value to the reader. To help you cut the fluff from your story, ask yourself if each detail answers yes to any of these questions. If not, you can likely delete or revise it.

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5 Read aloud and get feedback

The final tip to improve your story's pacing is to read your story aloud and get feedback from others. Reading aloud can help you catch any awkward sentences, grammatical errors, or inconsistencies that might slow down your story. It can also help you hear the rhythm, flow, and voice of your story. Getting feedback from others can help you gain a fresh perspective and insight into your story's strengths and weaknesses. You can ask your beta readers, critique partners, or editors to comment on your story's pacing, among other aspects, and use their suggestions to improve your story.

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Susanne Lakin

Author, Book Copyeditor, and Writing Coach
Having your computer read to you (with a program like Natural Reader) will help you catch missing words and repetition. It also slows you down so that you can hear your sentences and weigh whether every word is needed or if some words could be replaced with better ones.
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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you improve your story's pacing with editing?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Identify your story's structure

2 Vary your scene lengths

3 Balance your dialogue and narration

4 Cut the fluff

5 Read aloud and get feedback

6 Here’s what else to consider

Writing

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How can you improve your story's pacing with editing?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Identify your story's structure

2 Vary your scene lengths

3 Balance your dialogue and narration

4 Cut the fluff

5 Read aloud and get feedback

6 Here’s what else to consider

Writing

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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