Pacing in Picture Books: Insights from a Twitter Chat with Jodell Sadler

Did you catch the recent Twitter chat with agent Jodell Sadler on picture book pacing? [#PBPacing] Thanks to KidLit411 and Jodell, I got a chance to think more about pacing and found some great resources where I can learn even more. Here are some of the insights from Jodell's chat:

“PB Pacing is about the interplay of art and words, the slowing and speeding of the text to enhance story emotionally.”

“It is about paying attention to what I call "The XPs of Picture Books: prosody, poetry, play, plot and performance.”

“Pacing enhances the story arc, increase tension. Many tools serve as pacing markers, i.e., the repetitive line.”

Jodell suggested creating a two column table in Word with 16-18 rows to help check the pacing and page turns. Her comments made me think a lot about how the page turns move the story along and create tension: 

“Page turns are integral. They offer surprise, new scenes, and interactivity to your book--a performance.”

“It's about exploring the negative space of writing: how much can we pull back and lure our reader in.”

“Most important part of page turns is the play... make those leaps and jumps in MS to surprise readers.”

I was also very interested in Jodell's responses to questions about keeping down word counts, since agents and editors often ask for manuscripts of 500 words or less. It's so challenging sometimes! She referred back to the 20 tools she has studied and discussed in length on her website, Pacing Picture Books. Jodell's website is a preview of her upcoming book on pacing (I can hardly wait!)  

“Pacing helps writers make sound decisions in dropping word count.”

“When you explore tools and see how they layer and enhance story, less words are needed, the pace quickens.”

This was probably my favourite quote of the chat: 

“The magic of picture book pacing starts with the writer. When you pour all your passion onto the page.”

This chat was so inspiring! I’m revising one of my picture books today, based on some of this great advice.  For further information you can check out Jodell Sadler’s work on pacing at:

www.pacingpicturebooks.com or follow her on twitter @PacingStory2WOW

For some examples of well-paced stories: www.awesomereading.com

If you also write middle grade like I do, you'll find examples that discuss middle grade and YA books.

There is also an interesting agent spotlight with Jodell Sadler on KidLit411.

Cool Discoveries: Children's Book Podcasts, Pacing Tips and More

Since I spend so much time driving kids around, I quickly finish my weekly supply of podcasts about writing.  (My favourite, Writing Excuses, is only 15 minutes long but it's packed with information.) This week I was happy to discover a new one:  PW KidsCast. It features some interesting interviews with children's authors about their books and writing. I'm so thrilled to add it to my playlist!

This week, I also came across two interesting blog posts:

Anna Staniszewki, author of My Very Un-Fairytale Life, has some great tips on pacing:

I love her revision suggestion of putting only the scenes that are clearly working into a new document and then filling in the gaps!

Cindy M. Hogan at Indelibles reminded me that it’s important to nuture other interests besides writing, because they do make your writing a lot richer: Looking Beyond Writer’s Conferences.

And just for fun: have you seen this impressive Hogwarts Castle created by Alice Finch?

My Lego-loving teen discovered it when she was home from school due to weather earlier this week and spent a long time poring over every detail of every picture with her sister. She was thrilled by the idea that Alice Finch lets her kids play with it. I heard my daughter say to her sister, “I wish she was my mom!”

Another overheard comment: “They make Lego test tubes? I’ve never seen those before and now I really want them.”

The verdict: "It is SO COOL!"

You can read more about it in this interview with Alice Finch.

 

Tricks to Speed Up Novel Pacing

Pacing, the momentum that pulls us through the story, can be hard to get right. Too slow and the reader loses interest. Too fast and the story can get confusing.

I tend to err on the side of too slow. [Writers of children's books tend to worry about getting the reader's attention.] Probably most writers have places where the story starts to slow down (aka the sagging middle). When you’re writing, it’s easy to get wrapped up in adding unnecessary descriptive details or including events that don’t relate to the character's goal. Some tricks to speed up your novel pacing:

Cut down on transitional scenes. Does your novel have scenes or sentences where all you're doing is moving the character from one place to another? Consider cutting or reducing them. Transitions are boring and don’t need much detail.

Start the story later. After the hook brings us into the story, we still need something to keep us reading. Starting part way into the story, or at the place where we meet the story problem can give the beginning of the story some momentum.

Pare down backstory. Backstory can make the story drag. It may be interesting to you, but not your reader. Take agent Kristin’s advice (and the advice of practically every other agent and editor) and use only little bits.

Summarize. We always hear about the dangers of “telling” instead of “showing”, but a little bit of telling can be effective too. I sometimes use it to give a reader a piece of information that may help with flow of the story, without taking up the space of an entire scene. Just make sure it’s not something crucial to the plot.

A few other things you can do to help speed up the story:

Intensify beginnings and endings. Scene or chapter beginnings and endings should be compelling. Sometimes, we worry about this early in the novel and forget in the middle section. For kid readers, any hint that it might be boring can mean they don’t finish the book.  Why risk losing their attention?

Shorten chapter length. Short, snappy chapters can keep the story flowing, especially in children’s books. Kids also get tricked into thinking there isn’t so much to read, if there are short chapters and lots of white space.

Cut unnecessary explanatory phrases. Check out agent Mary Kole’s post on eliminating the frame. You might not even realize you're doing this.

Use shorter words. If I need a dictionary every paragraph or two, there are probably too many interesting words.

Do you have any tricks for speeding up the story pacing?

Links

*As usual, if you come across any useful resources on this topic, let me know and I’ll add them to this resource.

April Henry points out two ways to improve pacing.

Lisa Gail Green talks about pacing for pantsers. Be sure to read the comments on this one, because they are full of great insights.

Agent Kristin Nelson talks about pacing in her vlog: Why Page Length for YA or MG Novel Is The Wrong Question.

Consider these techniques to establish pacing, from the Writer’s Store.

Patrick Schultz lets us in on some great secrets for speeding up novel pacing (also available as a podcast)

Over at Dark Angel’s Fiction Writing Tools, romance author Roz Denny Fox writes about pacing your novel.

At Janice Hardy’s blog, guest author Jana DeLeon shares some thoughts on slow pacing at the beginning of a novel.

Jess at Falling Leaflets suggests you consider timing and transitions in pacing your novel.