Timing Is Everything

 

by Sybil Johnson

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice with a lot of food. 

Every time I put together a dinner with multiple things going on at once, I thank my junior high Home Ec teacher, Mrs. Cook. Yes, that really was her name. For our final assignment one year we worked in pairs and cooked a meal for a teacher. We made ours for our art teacher, Mr. Klatt. As part of that, we had to work out the timing of every course so it would all be ready at the same time. 

This got me thinking about timing in writing. I guess what I’m talking about here is not only pacing, but also making sure multiple plot lines come together at the end.

In my books, I usually have three plot lines going at once: the major one which involves the murder, one that involves another crime or bad situation and a final one that involves the personal lives of my ongoing characters. The first one gets more scenes than the second one etc. They still have to be woven throughout the story and come together in the last part of the book.

This aspect of timing is probably the easiest for me. When I’m writing or rewriting, I look at each of the scenes and see which ones refer to each plot line. If I haven’t addressed a plot line in a while, I figure it’s time to put something in about it.

In terms of pacing, if you reveal some things too quickly, the story feels rushed and the reader may not understand what’s going on. If you reveal things too slowly, the reader gets bored and may give up on the story. Either way, it’s not a good thing.

Setting a story aside for a week or so can help bring any issues to light. I read my stories aloud to myself (when I had cats it was to my cats). That helps me as well. A good editor and beta readers are also useful in this situation.

Knowing your own tendencies is important. I know I sometimes just want to get to the end of a project, particularly if I’ve been working on it for a long time. So I’ll rush an ending. I have to consciously slow myself down.

How do you get your timing right? I don’t have a degree in creative writing. I don’t teach classes. I can only go on what I’ve experienced throughout the years I’ve been writing books and short stories. What do those of you out there who teach writing think? Do you have any tips you give your students?