planning and pacing

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

planning and pacing

TIPS

• Make a plan before you write your story. 
• Think of the end of the story as you make your plan so that the story is logical. 

Title

Who is Tom? 

What happened?

Why does he know he has the wrong suitcase? 

What was in it?

What address was on the suitcase?

What was the surprise

Make a quick plan for this prompt:
A family of four moves in an old Victorian home.
As they restore it, more and more people die suddenly
and violently.

Make a quick plan for this prompt:
Your partner breaks up with you, and while sitting
dejected on the beach, you find a ring. When you slip it on your finger, it transforms your appearance.

Six Practical Pacing Tips

1. Go into summary mode to reveal important (but not very interesting) information.

Six Practical Pacing Tips

2. Slow into moment-by-moment action when you’re trying to build tension.

Six Practical Pacing Tips

3. Alternate between telling and showing. The majority of your writing should show but telling can save a lot of time and get the reader more quickly to the next big moment.

Six Practical Pacing Tips

4. Do your world-building as the scene unfolds. We can learn what a character looks like after they’ve started speaking. We can explore a room throughout an event.

Six Practical Pacing Tips

5. Use jump cuts. Putting a blank line between two paragraphs means you can jump from one scene to another without any awkward manoeuvring.

Six Practical Pacing Tips

6. Think about ways to progress the story in dialogue rather than in the narrative voice. This can be faster and more engaging.

Six Practical Pacing Tips (again)

1. Go into summary mode to reveal important (but not very interesting) information.

2. Slow into moment-by-moment action when you’re trying to build tension.

3. Alternate between telling and showing.

4. Do your world-building as the scene unfolds. 

5. Use jump cuts. 

6. Think about ways to progress the story in dialogue rather than in the narrative voice. 

Pick on of the tips to practise with today.

Pick one of the stories.
Write for 10 minutes.
Start late in the story!