1. By: Chelsie Olson

2. Definitions:
 Pacing is the rhythm of the novel, of the chapters
and scenes and paragraphs and sentences. It is
also rate at which the reader reads, the speed at
which novel events occur and unfold
 Or it is defined as,
 In the great novel the plot is compelling, the
characters are vivid and memorable, and I‟m
filled with a sense of being in a different place
and time because the setting is brought to life.
That‟s pacing.

4.  Your pacing should have an ability to
create a picture of what is going on.
 You want to give to your readers a
sense of things going on with your
characters while using pacing.

5.  When you are writing a story. Make sure that
you have at least a basic idea of what it is
first.
 You do not want your story to be dubbed as a
“Bathtub Story”
◦ “Bathtub Story” is defined by
Professor Crowley as: “A man/woman
walking into the bathroom. They go
sit in a bathtub; looking up at the
ceiling. Thinking about their life”

6.  One thing that could possibly
help you, using different color
of highlighters while reading a
story it will help:
◦Characterization setting: Pink
◦Plotting devices: Blue
◦Setting Contributions: Yellow

8.  “I‟d been working in the emergency room for
about three weeks, I guess. This was in 1973,
before the summer ended. With nothing to do on
the overnight shifts, I just started wandering
around, over to the coronary-care unit, down to
the cafeteria, et cetera, looking around for
Georgie, the orderly, a pretty good friend of
mine.”
This is a good example of pacing because Johnson
is giving us a general idea of what is taking place.
For me it gives me an idea of how much speed it is
going to be during the night shift at the hospital.
Some hospitals are not exactly that busy during
the night. I have been in a hospital, so I was able to
picture this easily and understand where the
character was coming from.

9.  “Around 3:30 A.M. A guy with a knife in his
eye came in, led by Gerogie.
„I hope you didn‟t do that to him,‟ Nurse said.
„Me?‟ Gerogie said. „No. He was like this.‟
„My wife did it,” the man said. The blade was buried
to the hilt in the outside corner of his left eye. IT was
a hunting knife kind of thing.
To me this could be considered not a very good
representation of pacing due to all the conversation that
is taking place while reading the actions taking place. It
was showing too much detail and not a lot of things
going on. It feels not exactly what I would want to be
reading considering a guy has an object in him. In
reality this would have been less talking more action.

10.  “Georgie and I had a terrific time driving
around. For a while the day was clear and
peaceful. It was one of the moments you stay
in, to hell with all the troubles of before and
after. The sky is blue, and the dead are
coming back.”
 This is an interesting piece that shows
pacing. The author shows us, the readers, a
very good sense of what you might see
during a drive. I feel like I am sitting in with
the characters during their drive around.

11.  Hinze, Vicki. Pacing. 2003. 17 March 2013.
 Carr, Robyn. Practical Tips for Writing Popular
Ficiton. Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1992.
Book.