Joanne Harris Profile picture
Sep 12, 2018 11 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Let's try this one today. Follow #TenThingsAboutPacing to collect them all!
1. Pacing a novel is not simply a question of slow=boring and fast=exciting. It is mostly about managing tension within the narrative. #TenthingsAboutPacing
2. It's also about *varying* the pace - any pace, fast or slow, becomes boring without variety. #TenthingsAboutPacing
3. You also need to consider the length of the piece you're writing. A short novel or story needs to get moving a lot faster than a 1000-page epic. #TenthingsAboutPacing
4. In general, action requires a faster pace, while building tension (and relaxing it) needs a slower one. #TenthingsAboutPacing
5. To speed up the pace, streamline your sentences. Short, graphic sentences with relatively sparse imagery generally help to speed up the narrative. #TenthingsAboutPacing
6. To slow it down, use longer, more contemplative sentences. Linger on the description and sense-impressions. #TenthingsAboutPacing
7. Dialogue tends to speed up the pace. Description slows it down again. #TenthingsAboutPacing
8. It's important to give your reader space to recover from fast-paced, exciting action scenes. A quiet, possibly humorous scene between slices of fast-paced action maximizes the impact. #TenthingsAboutPacing
9. As a rule, it can help if you pick up the pace at pivotal moments in your plot - the beginning; revelations and reversals; the beginning of a new act; the end. #TenthingsAboutPacing
10. Vocabulary choice affects pacing. Short, simple, onomatopaeic words speed it up: long words and unusual vocabulary or imagery slow it down again. #TenthingsAboutPacing

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More from @Joannechocolat

Oct 9, 2018
It's a long train journey, so let's do this one, too. Follow #TenWaysForMenToWriteAboutWomen to collect them all!
1. This one is for the many men who have asked my advice on this. First, kudos for asking. Second, the fact that you needed to ask at all may be the root of your problem. #TenWaysForMenToWriteAboutWomen
2. Look at the way you interact with women in real life. If you're problematic, sexist or prejudiced in life, then you don't have much of a chance of avoiding it in your fiction. #TenWaysForMenToWriteAboutWomen
Read 12 tweets
Sep 18, 2018
This one sounds interesting. Let's extend it to writing about EMOTIONS. Follow the hashtag to collect them all! #TenThingsAboutEmotions
1. To write convincingly about emotions - whether that's love, grief, anger, joy - you have to be acutely aware of your *own* emotions, and how they come across to other people. #TenThingsAboutEmotions
2. It's probably the only instance where the "write what you know" rule really applies. #TenThingsAboutEmotions
Read 11 tweets
Sep 16, 2018
Margareta von Ascheberg (1671 – 1753) was a Swedish land owner, noble and acting regiment colonel during the Great Northern War. #CelebratingWomen
She was the youngest child of Field Marshal Rutger von Ascheberg and Magdalena Eleonora Busseck. In 1691, she married colonel count Kjell Christopher Barnekow in Malmö.
As was the custom of the Swedish nobility as that time, she kept her name after marriage and style herself »Grevinnan Ascheberg» (Countess Ascheberg). The couple had four children.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 15, 2018
Queen Nanny or Nanny (c. 1686 – c. 1755), was an 18th-century leader of the Jamaican Maroons. Much of what is known about her comes from oral history, as little textual evidence exists. #CelebratingWomen
She was born into the Asante people in what is today Ghana, and escaped from slavery after being transported to Jamaica.
Historical documents refer to her as the "rebels' old 'obeah' woman." Following some armed confrontations, colonial officials reached a settlement for peace.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 14, 2018
1. Writer's block is a psychological disorder, and is far, far less common than most people think. It's linked to depression, so if you really think you're suffering from this, get professional help. #TenThingsAboutWritersBlock
2. Many people use the term loosely, to mean "lacking the will or the inspiration to write." If this is you, try to identify the reason. #TenThingsAboutWritersBlock
Read 11 tweets
Sep 14, 2018
Na Hangbe was the ruler of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, for a brief period before Agaja came to power in 1718. #CelebratingWomen
Little is known about her because her rule was largely erased from the official Dahomey history and much that is known is brought together by various different oral histories.
However, it is believed that she became the ruler of Dahomey upon the sudden death of King Akaba because his oldest son, Agbo Sassa, was not yet of age.
Read 4 tweets

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