Writing Excuses: Writing Excuses 10.31: How Do I Control the Reader’s Sense of Progress?

August 3, 2015 10:45 AM

This month’s Master Class episodes focus on pacing, and we’re dividing the concept of pacing into two parts: the first is the sense of progress within the story, and the second is the sense of the passage of time. In this episode we tackle that first bit, and discuss how we communicate progress to the readers.

We talk a bit about the concept of “promises made to the reader,” which we covered in more detail during episode 10.14. You may want to refer back to that at some point.

Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: Time Salvager, by Wesley Chu, narrated by Kevin T. Collins

Writing Prompt: The Magnified Moment: write two pages in which someone gets out of bed, walks across the room, and opens the door.

posted by restless_nomad (2 comments total)

Ah, this is the stuff I like - nuts and bolts of how pacing works. (And I totally remember that scene in the Tad Williams book, and it's at least seven chapters long. At *least*.)
posted by restless_nomad at 10:49 AM on August 3, 2015

This was my first go at this podcast, and I enjoyed it so much - like restless_nomad, I love the nuts and bolts discussions. Also, appreciate the length.
posted by Gin and Broadband at 3:11 AM on August 6, 2015