So far I've been doing a lot of technical stuff, talking about how to create a cover or get your manuscript edited and ready for the presses.  Today we'll talk more about style and how to make your story sing with superior story structure.  Your reader has to connect with your book.  Human beings are well equipped for this, as our emotions are there, ready and waiting to be plucked by a skilled musician.  However, we can be fickle creatures.  A great chase is thrilling and gripping, but it has to end on the right note.  We love to watch two characters explore their romance and develop a strong bond, but we eventually want there to be some closure to the story.  You never want your reader to lose interest, or feel in some way the train of their emotions has derailed, leaving the passengers to scramble for safety before the eventual explosion.  That's why today, we're going to talk about pacing.

Your story shouldn't move too fast, and definitely not too slowly.  Pacing is best understood when you watch an action movie.  Great action movies wonderfully embody many elements of a good story: an interesting plot hook, lots of explosions and eye popping effects, and great one-liners.  Even with all of these features, an action movie is terrible if the pacing is off.  If the characters solve a problem too easily, then they seem superhuman and unreal.  If they take too long to resolve the oncoming danger, then the viewer is left in a state of anxiousness or nervousness for too long and can feel drained.  Action movies require quick pacing with down time for character development and planning, so watching a lot of action movies can give you that sixth sense you need for pacing.

Take Commando, for instance.  By all accounts this movie is terrible.  The plot is weak and the movie writers just rely on unique ways of killing people and Arnold to sell their movie.  However I love Commando.  I can never get enough of it.  No, it's not just Arnold holding two submachine guns while blowing away hundreds of third world Central American mercenaries.  It's the fact you always get your fix right on time.  Sure, you need exposition to move the story along.  However, always notice that action is always well placed.  If Arnold has spent too much time talking to the heroine, we can always cue a bad guy to come in and present a challenge.  Arnold will then blow said bad guy away in amazing fashion, while at the same time moving the story along and giving the viewer his reward for sticking with the story.  At no point in the movie do you find yourself thinking "Man, I wish someone would explode so this would get interesting."  The story writers knew when it was time for the bad guy to blow up.

This example may be facetious, but I really think that movies can help you gain a sense of timing.  You don't want your story to drag.  You most certainly do not want it to go too quickly!  This is the common lament of writers.  You have all of  these wonderful scenes and plot points dancing in your head, but it feels like your characters reach those points too quickly.  Oftentimes, this is because you do not add enough conflict in the interim to make your story gripping.  Let's say Detective Stoneface is tracking down "Silhouette", a sexy Parisian master thief.  You figure that Detective Stoneface will ambush Silhouette at the Louvre, setting a trap for her there by using a really large African diamond as bait.  Well, this is a really great plot point.  What you don't want, though, is for Silhouette to break into the Louvre, and get immediately captured by the Detective.  I mean, if the main character comes up with a brilliant plan, then by all means, the reader should share in his joy.  However, no one gets excitement out of a villain who is too easily caught.  Silhouette should instead prove to be far stealthier than Detective Stoneface ever thought possible, breaking through all the security systems, and outfoxing him to gain her prize.  Sure, maybe Silhouette could have incidentally left a small clue that would eventually lead to her capture, but simply taking her into custody so early in the story is not going to sell a lot of books. 

You should always mix up your scenes and provide interesting complications.  If your main characters make plans, come up with ways that intervening variables could come in, and show how they deal with what they could not have planned for.  Try to keep secrets!  There's nothing more satisfying to a reader than solving the mystery ahead of the main character.  Leave nuggets for your reader to find, and let your characters keep their own secrets to reveal them later.  Sure, Detective Stoneface could have told the Chief that Silhouette was aiming to kill the Chief later, but then he would lose the chief as bait.  This adds some mystery, and also helps you fill in spaces if you think your story is moving along too fast.