Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion
Historical Fiction
>
how to slow down plot pace
date
newest »
newest »
I don't think every time jump really needs to be filled up this way. I totally understand trying to listen your Beta readers, but if it is simply one person noting it among a few others who don't mind it, I wouldn't take it too seriously.If you do want to attempt slowing down the pace, you could try to add scenes of perfectly normal everyday actions that might not do much to move the plot around but would enlighten and bring out the personalities of your characters a bit more. For a more detailed feedback on it I'd have to read it myself to see how the whole writing feels to me and what specifically could be added.
Time is funny. But if your just trying to get from introduction to a few years or decades later it is fine to jump. Just connect the reader via character names and make sure they knows it’s later in the future. Filling in with stuff is not needed.
If chapter 4 Joey the baby is crawling and chapter 6 they are running is ok. Just show the time change somehow or imply a change with “now Joey is running”. If the character was introduced well the reader will see the time jump.
Thanks, Victoria and MK. Most helpful comments.
I think that sometimes people have their own hang-ups about writing and express those - perhaps trying to say something useful in the absence of anything really appropriate and helpful to say. Perhaps this is what happened here. As Victoria says above, if it's just one person amongst others, I'd ignore it. It's definitely better not to introduce material just to fill the gaps. It will come over as padding and won't serve any useful purpose except to annoy those people who've read it correctly and just want to get on with the story. These jumps are really snapshots of e.g. a child's development, and it's fine to use them. Short summaries are known as reportage, and again, it's fine to use them to cover a fair bit of time quickly. You know what you're trying to achieve, so go for it. And good luck!
Penelope wrote: "Perhaps what you need is images."Unsure what you mean, Penelope.
Helen wrote: "I think that sometimes people have their own hang-ups about writing and express those - perhaps trying to say something useful in the absence of anything really appropriate and helpful to say. Perh..."Thanks for the helpful advice, Helen.
Drawings. Photos. Your description of this work makes me expect to see images as well as words.
I would worry more if someone thought the plot was too slow than someone who wants it slowed down. Most of your readers are probably happy your novel skips the boring bits. But, there is no accounting for taste. Don't change something for one reader that might be less popular with a greater amount of readers. It's always a balancing act.
Hi V.M., my first book and the current one I'm working on span 20 years. In my first, no one complained and its doing well. I made sure the previous chapter ended with some sort of 'cliff-hanger' then began the next chapter, a few years later with an action scene to keep the motivation going while either resolving or including the cliff-hanger. In my book(s), the main conflict continues so it was easier to maintain the flow of that. And by using an action scene, rather than slowing down the pace to explain the time difference, I think helped a lot. And do by all means use a fresh date (year or month/year) to begin the next chapter, which helps to alert the reader.
Using a date at the beginning of the next chapter or name of viewpoint character changes is great advice. Cliff hangers at the end of chapters keeps me wanting more. Just one more chapter until I've read the whole thing. Great advice.
Penelope wrote: "Drawings. Photos. Your description of this work makes me expect to see images as well as words."It's a historical novel set in the time of the Vikings. I don't think readers would expect images. However, it's worth considering as the time is very different from our own. Much more brutal, for a start.
Gail wrote: "Hi V.M., my first book and the current one I'm working on span 20 years. In my first, no one complained and its doing well. I made sure the previous chapter ended with some sort of 'cliff-hanger' t..."Thanks for the tips, Gail. Oh dear! I think this revision is going to take a lot longer than I hoped.
V.M. in reading some other posts here, I agree. If its only 1 person's opinion/complaint, move on to something else. Or just go thru those specific jumping chapters and read them again to see if you think the transition is smooth or chunky. I had a reviewer say that one of my books moved so fast with too much happening at once (no time jump in it). Then she said that she was more into 'leisure reading books', cozy mysteries. Mine wasn't in that genre. So, I took it as a compliment!
Belynda wrote: "I would worry more if someone thought the plot was too slow than someone who wants it slowed down. Most of your readers are probably happy your novel skips the boring bits. But, there is no account..."Very sensible advice!
It has been my experience as both a read and author that very seldom is the plot too fast as much as it becomes too vague. What I find is that things move so fast your readers loses the necessary detail to to follow you. As long as the reader can understand the details, he can likely follow the pace, so wail away! If you put in the necessary detail, and it does not have to be much, that will slow things on its own to allow things to happen at a pace the reader can follow.
Thanks, Wilbur and Helen for your comments.
Penelope wrote: "Drawings. Photos. Your description of this work makes me expect to see images as well as words."V.M. wrote: "It's a historical novel set in the time of the Vikings. I don't think readers would expect images. However, it's worth considering as the time is very different from our own. Much more brutal, for a start. "
Hi V.M.
About a book with images (especially drawings). If the images reflects the time of the vikings (style), it could make the reader feel like they are reading historical text.
While I love books with images, I've read that some readers do not enjoy images because they feel the images are interruptions in text flow.
Here's some info. about what I mean. You can search for more, there are endless possibilities out there. This link was found in a random online search, I just wanted to demonstrate what it is I am talking about. I hope you find it useful.
http://www.thedockyards.com/old-norse...
What so people think of things like this? Because of its nature I can't compress the story. People have children and lose those children. Children grow up. The comments have made me think. If I put stuff in to fill out those places where time jumps, It will just be padding.