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All of the installments of Sinful Rewards are roughly the same number of words. Why then do some readers and reviewers claim the installments are becoming shorter?
The answer is one word—pacing.
Pacing is the speed of reading or comprehension. Pacing in writing is very similar to the tempo in music. This is why many writers write to music. They match the tempo. One scene might be a slow song, the sentences long and luxurious, the action leisurely. Another scene might have a dance beat, the sentences short, the action rushed. These two scenes might have the same number of words but the arrangement is very different, tricking the brain into reading faster or slower, as the writer intends.
And the writer should intend. Pacing is one of the most powerful tools in our toolbox. It decides whether or not readers finish our stories, what they grasp, what they overlook. It is how I can hide clues in my stories without readers perceiving them as obvious. For erotic romances, it is the difference between a fast and furious against the wall quickie and a Sunday morning sexual exploration.
The Natural Flow Of A Story
A story usually starts slower, speeds up in the middle, and then slows down at the end. The reason for this is because action and dialogue is faster to read than narrative and description.
At the beginning of a story, we normally describe the characters and the setting and weave in back story. All of these have a slower pace.
At the end of the story, the characters often think back on what they’ve learned, how they’ve grown. The action is winding down and the characters are absorbing what this means for them, giving readers a glimpse into the future.
The middle of the story is normally dialogue and action heavy. Both of these are fast to read. As Sinful Rewards is a serial, one continuous story, the installments in the middle naturally have a fast pace.
The Reader Breathes As Our Characters Breathe
To draw readers into our stories, we want to eliminate as much separation between them and our point of view character as possible. One method to have the reading pace reflect our point of view character’s pace. If our character is in a life or death car chase, her adrenaline pumping, her breath ragged, our reader should be reading as fast as she can. If our character is lying on the beach, relaxing, our reader should be relaxing also, leisurely turning pages.
A faster pace isn’t always better, especially for erotic romances. If the entire story is go-go-go, the reader won’t be able to breathe, won’t reflect on events, might become tired. A fast paced sex scene can be an exciting fast fuck but it isn’t romantic or lovey dovey. Having one pace for the entire story also reduces the power of this tool.
Pacing Problems
When I’m told by an editor, an agent, or a critique partner, that I have pacing problems, my first temptation is to change what happens in the scene, to crank up (or down) the action, if it is a battle scene, to increase (or decrease) the body count.
That is often not necessary. I can write the same scene with a fast pace or with a slow pace merely by changing my choice of words or my sentence structure.
Size Matters
The size of words and the length of sentences influence pacing. Readers read two short sentences faster than they read one long sentence. They read two one syllable words faster than they read one two syllable word.
Short simple sentences are easier for our brains to understand. If I really want a reader to note a point in my story, I use a short simple sentence. “I love you” is one example. This sentence is three words long. The words are one syllable each.
However, a short simple sentence is also read quickly. As “I love you” is usually a critical declaration, I will often frame it with long, complex sentences to slow down the moment, to allow the reader to savor it.
“I love you,” he declared. And he did, madly, truly, intensely, feeling an endless depth of emotion he never thought possible.
This second, run-on sentence serves the first, encouraging the reader to linger over the words, the sentiment.
Not So Fast, Mister
Forget what your English teacher taught you. In erotic romances, run-one sentences are our friends. They slow down sex scenes, increasing the emotion, bringing the reader along for the sizzling hot ride.
Using description in a sex scene is an easy way to slow pacing. The heroine doesn’t simply press her lips to the hero’s shoulder. She notes the salty taste of his skin, his musky scent, the way his muscles flex under her. She’s intensely aware of him, of everything about the man she’s fucking.
Sneaking in some introspective will also slow down the scene. The hero is rocking into her, moving in and out, in and out, and she’s thinking how easy it would be to fall in love with him, to crave a lifetime of this loving. But, oh noes, she knows they’re not meant to be. They only have this one sextastic moment and she’ll make every second count. (See how we inserted some delicious conflict? Grins. Yes, we’re tricksy that way.)
We don’t want to have a slow pace for the entire sex scene. The pace of the scene should reflect the pace of the act, starting slow, increasing faster and faster, until oh my God, the pacing climaxes when the characters come. Then the pace gradually slows as rational thought returns.
Pacing is a powerful tool, one that I am always working to perfect, taking courses, dissecting well written or best selling stories.
How do you control pacing?
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Bee Carter has been offered everything she has ever dreamed of—a caring, lasting relationship with a handsome, often charming billionaire; the permanent home she’s never had but has always craved; and wealth to buy the designer fashions she loves, support her hard-working mother, and ensure her acceptance by Chicago’s elite.
To obtain what she’s desired for so long, she has to do only two things: Walk away from her best friend, a woman who is destined to betray her … and end her passionate nightly encounters with a certain tattooed biker, a former Marine who can never give her what she needs.
Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG
Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006
