One of the big clues I first got re pacing was from reading a biography of Mary Renault, which emphasized how in her early writing, scenes just sort of went on and on because she had no idea how to structure them. She then worked out she didn't have to show everything, that time jumps and summaries and so on were fine. She called this insight "the bound" after miraculous escapes in old boys' adventure stories: "And with a bound, Jack was free of his bonds!" That really opened up the possibility of transitions to me.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 05:54 pm (UTC)