Pacing—adding intrigue to your writing by Lisa M. Basso

If you follow any agents, editors, or authors on blogs or social media, you’ll have heard about the importance of pacing—the speed and timing of your story. We’ve all had both positive and negative experiences with pacing while reading. Either the pacing has us flying through pages so fast our fingers are practically on fire, desperate to see how the conflict is resolved, or slogging through page after page of headdesk bashing boredom, waiting—begging— for something juicy to happen.

I won’t lie. My life is busy. Too busy to waste time on a book that’s slow (page after page with little to no character development, story, plot, or importance happening on the page). I’m the kind of reader that will put a book down if it isn’t engaging me somehow. And I know a lot of agents, editors, writers, and readers feel the same way. So, how to make your writing stand out? One way is to make sure your pacing is on point.

Good pacing doesn’t, by any means, translate to a non-stop action thrill-ride from beginning to end. No. We don’t want the entire book to keep the reader’s head spinning so fast they won’t remember what they read. Good pacing is speeding up, slowing down, and adjusting as needed. Now to the hard part, how to do this right.

Knowing when to speed up and slo-o-oow it down is something you can learn from re-reading some of your favorite books.

Pick up one of your favorites and read the first chapter. Be warned, I’m going to be using a lot of fish analogies. Because they work. And because sushi is amazing (and now I’m kind of desperate for a spicy tuna roll, but I’ll wait because I’m doing this post for you guys). The beginning of a book. This is the hook, ideally it should contain something intriguing, making you froth at the mouth for more. Hooks can be any pace you like, just remember, the beginning of the book is a first impression. Would you tell a complete stranger your life story the very first time you meet them? Probably not. So please don’t info-dump in your hook. Small bits of info are great, in fact, they can help increase pace by slipping them in here and there.

Now, read the next few chapters. I like to call this the momentum. Ideally, within the first few chapters, the writer has baited the hook with something delicious, something you—the awesome fish in this analogy—can’t wait to bite onto and ride to the surface. You should, hopefully, be learning the big problem that will want to propel you through the middle, toward the climax, and ultimately, the conclusion. What keeps you engaged while reading? Characters, story, plot—the ultimate trio. And pacing. If this part of the story all strolled along at the same pace, you risk boredom. To keep the reader engaged, something needs to kick up the pace.

Action, drama, mystery, intrigue, emotion—all of these things have the capability to increase the pace. Shorter sentences. Intense dialogue. Amped up heart rates. The threat of pain. Injury. Even death.

See what I mean?

Let’s move on. Keep reading. You should be near the middle of the book now. You’re introducing new characters or getting to know the ones you’ve met better, you’re learning what more about this big bad issue that the main character(s) needs to overcome, or you’re following them on their chosen path, knowing something bad is coming. All of these things are good, as long as you’re still on the hook, riding through these bumps in the water and not struggling desperately, wishing you never bit the hook to start with. This is because the pacing of the book is varied, increasing then slowing.

Here is where pacing gets really important. It’s time to start building momentum for the big climax. Usually the pacing leading up to the climax gets quicker, like a racecar. This is the moment to let your pacing skills to shine. Action, adventure, romance, whatever, as long as the tension is there and the conflict is resolved.

The resolution. The final place in the book to tie up all the loose ends. This becomes the perfect place to slow down. It’s your last opportunity to savor living in this world.

A few other examples of great moments to slow the pace down.

• Romance. Yes, it’s no secret I lurve me some romance, but it’s best when there’s a build-up. A great way to do that is focus on feelings and details. Slow those seconds down. This is the perfect example of how slowing down can actually add tension.
• An ah-ha moment. When your character uncovers something s/he didn’t know before. Your characters needs a few moments to process what they have learned, what this new information could lead to, and how it makes things worse—because these moments should almost always make things worse. ;)
• Too-much, too quick. To take a breather during a quick-paced moment. Occasionally, the reader can get overwhelmed. This is when it becomes necessary to press pause and look around. Clarify the stakes, use this moment to find a way to raise them even further.
• An injury. This could be physical or psychological. Nothing ever goes perfect. Someone’s bound to get hurt. Whether it’s your main character(s) or a secondary character, injuries are serious, even if it’s an injury of the heart. Show this emotion.

Aaaaand…scene.

Whew. That was a boat-load of information. And, with any luck,  the author has left you, the reader, flopping on the deck—and hopefully threw you back in so you get do this over and over again with their next book.

Now that you have the building blocks to great pacing, I hope you guys are off to go pick up your pace. (Ah! See what I did there? Heh. Okay…yeah, I’m off to spicy tuna roll heaven).

Lisa M. Basso was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She is a lover of books, video games, animals, and baking (not baking with animals though). As a child she would crawl into worlds of her own creation and get lost for hours. Her love for YA fiction started with a simple school reading assignment: S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. When not reading or writing she can usually be found at home with The Best Husband that Ever Lived ™ and her two darling (and sometimes evil) cats, Kitties A and B.

You can also find her prowling the internet (when not writing)

http://Lisa-Basso.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/LisaMBasso

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-M-Basso/340213186037936

http://instagram.com/lisambasso

Coping With Character Loss by Lisa M. Basso

Whether you work with an editor, a critique partner/group, or prefer to go it alone, editing can be a daunting task. I know for me it’s one of the most challenging parts of writing. And it becomes even tougher when you have a character that just isn’t pulling their weight

While you’re editing, let’s say you discover a cliché of a character has wandered into your scene, or one of your secondary characters is displaying some serious Mary Sue tendencies. Most of the time you can fix these little issues with one or two well-executed passes of edits. Other times though, you super awesome fun character isn’t really doing their job. They aren’t moving the story forward, helping—or hindering—the advancement of the plot. In short, they’re place holders that don’t belong. This is when you know it’s time to put up or shut up. Spend more time fixing, if it feels absolutely necessary, or it’s time for someone to be ripped from the pages.

Sometimes it’s painful to lose a character, so do what you need to here are the steps I go through if I find myself missing them a little too much.

Coping with Character Loss

1.)    Keep a back-up. Instead of deleting every trace of them, open up a new file and put everything you cut from that character in the new file. That way if you decide later on your original decision was a mistake, or you get nostalgic and want to say hi again, you can always go back. But not now. Now you need to push to the next step.

2.)    Move forward. Keep editing, work through the story without that character.

3.)    Repeat. Two edits are usually better than one. The first pass will go over the big things, number two is to iron out the wrinkles.

4.)    Stuck? When it gets really hard, dig into your best stash of chocolate, pop a bottle of wine, or if you so desire, break out the tequila margarita mix and power through.

5.)    The re-read. Once you’re done editing, read it though. Does it work better now without your dearly departed character? Hopefully so, if not, go back to your back-up and add him/her in where they need to go, then edit again.

6.)    The Final Goodbye. If the last read through goes better without your missing character but you still feel badly or miss them, throw them a funeral. Put on your best pair of black sweats/yoga pants/pjs (from the writer’s wardrobe, of course), grab a flower from your yard and say a few nice things—then maybe a few not-so-nice things (you did have to cut them after all). When you’re done, put them to rest and take a day off.

7.)    Repeat. In which I mean, always, always write more! Move on to your next project, brainstorm, prep your book for submission. Remember, it wasn’t your funeral. J

I hope some of these steps help you the next time you have to erase someone.

Dishing Secrets about My Book Cover by Lisa M. Basso

One of the happiest days in any writer’s usual routine is that day. The day you look in your inbox and see IT. The cover of your book. Whether you’re a self-published writer hiring a cover designer, work with a small press publisher, or signed with one of the big six, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

One single picture representing tens of thousands of words, months—sometimes years—of work puts the pressure on to get that cover just right.

When it was time for A SHIMMER OF ANGELS to get its cover, I filled out the necessary form from my publisher. Of course, I knew exactly what I wanted. Something dark, something mysterious, something to draw the reader in. Then the first mock-up of the cover arrived. It was entirely different than what I’d wanted … and I was wowed.

The cover was beautiful, yes, but not perfect, and since my publisher asked for my feedback, I got to work. I recommended the addition of smoke somewhere in the cover (to go along with the story), and changing the white dress (in the book Rayna never wears a white dress).

The next email came with a bunch of options.

I would have been happy with any of these covers. They were more than I ever expected. I rated my favorites and inquired about possibly changing of the font.

The next email came with an almost finalized cover and some font changes.

Again, I rated my favorites. When it got to my publisher, they toyed with the font, and chose to make it bold. It all clicked, the image and font, a complete collaboration. The cover is everything I never knew I wanted, but so much better than I could have dreamed.

And may I just say, the other two covers in the series aren’t half bad either.

You can find Lisa at any of the places below:

Blog: http://Lisa-Basso.blogspot.com
Twitter: @LisaMBasso

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-M-Basso/340213186037936

Instagram: http://instagram.com/lisambasso

One Dark Secret About Lisa M. Basso

When I found out I needed to come up with a dark secret about myself, I was flabbergasted, completely stumped for weeks. Seriously. I tried brainstorming, muttering through a few ideas, only to scrap them halfway through. Then, in an act of pure procrastination, I picked up a book and read. The book (Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell) is about a girl who writes fan fiction heading off to college. About halfway through reading, that’s when it came to me. My dark secret. One I’d never told anyone.

My first foray into fiction was … fan fiction. *dun dun DUN!*

When I was maybe thirteen, I read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders (also mentioned in Fangirl—the amount of geeking out I did when I read that chapter should have been recorded for posterity) for a class assignment. I devoured the book in a matter of hours. After that it was like a thirst was opened up inside me. The book hadn’t been long enough, the characters didn’t get enough time, they needed another adventure! I needed to read something else like it immediately. I went to the library and checked out a few other books by the same author hoping I would find that love and connection again. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Instead I went to Blockbuster (yes, this story predates both Netflix and even DVDs) and rented the movie. Again I was disappointed. The movie was good, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t enough.

After a few other tries with classics and popular books at the time, I was ready to give up. Until I realized my love for those characters didn’t have to end with the book. That’s when I booted up our computer (see, the story isn’t that old, my family did have a computer!), opened up whatever passed for a word doc in those days, and picked out my favorite characters, placing them in a more modern version of my own story. Eventually, I lost interest in my slow typing skills and sitting in the cold kitchen tapping away, so I switched to a pencil and paper and kept going.

I never finished that story (you’re welcome for that, because let me tell you, it was bad), or the one after that or the one after that, but eventually, years and years later, I did finally finish one of my stories (originally based loosely on some X-Men fan fiction I started writing as a teenager). The day that happened, the day I typed my first “The End” I knew this was it for me—writing was it for me.

Because I’m naturally a curious individual, I now have questions. How did you start writing? Or what started your passion for reading? And most importantly, what is your dark secret?

Blood on the Bathroom Floor – Teaser from A Shimmer Of Angels by Lisa M. Basso

Disclaimer: The following scene contains violent imagery. Also, it’s one of my favorite scenes. Pay no attention to the link between the two. *waves hand like a Jedi* Please enjoy the this teaser from the beginning of chapter seven. 

A heart-stopping shriek rose up my throat. I took two steps, then fell to my knees by the stall. My jeans sopped up the thick, warm liquid. So much of it.

From behind me, someone tugged my arm. I screamed, twisting and pulling myself free. I scrambled back against the wall, my chest filling with too-quick breaths. Ms. Morehouse wrenched me from the bathroom and dragged me out into the hallway.

She yanked a cell phone from her pocket and punched in three numbers, her hands shaking with the same convulsions I fought. One last beep and she handed me the phone before rushing back onto the bathroom.

“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

“There’s blood. In the bathroom. A girl—she needs help!”

“Can you tell me what happened and where you are?” The man’s calm voice helped me a little.

“I don’t know what happened. She’s in the girls’ bathroom—in the basement. San Francisco. Stratford Independence High School. One, uh, one twenty Ellis Street.” My hands shook almost as much as my voice. I blinked and found myself on my knees.

“I’m sending a response team to you. They should be there soon. Try to remain calm. Do you know where she’s hurt?”

“No.” I tried to stand. Collapsed, my knees liquid beneath me.

I needed to go back in there. To help Allison and tell the operator what I could. But I couldn’t move.

The calm man’s voice hummed through the phone, but my vision tunneled and my arm became too weak to hold the phone up. It tumbled to the floor.

I stared at the phone. Blood. It covered my hands, filled the lines of my palms. Deep red, almost-brown. It was everywhere. The bloody imprint of my hand, every small line and crease, had transferred to Ms. Morehouse’s phone. Wide circles of it had sopped into the knees of my jeans. I gagged, scrambling back, desperate to run from the feel of it. But I couldn’t escape it, no matter how far I ran. Warm and sticky, the blood soaked through my jeans, onto my hands. Into my skin. I clutched my head and rocked. The drying blood matted into my hair. My thoughts jumbled in red.

Ms. Morehouse emerged from the bathroom an eternity later, red staining her hands and the front of her shirt. Tears dripped down her pale cheeks, tacking the ends of her bob to her chin. Her movements were as languid as the pain in her eyes.

She sat against the lockers beside me. “Are you okay, Rayna?” She didn’t look at me, her stare fixed on the door. Her voice was high, but whisper soft. Disconnected.

Was I okay? That was a question I couldn’t answer without repercussions.

“Allison?” I managed to squeak out.

Ms. Morehouse shook her head. “Is the ambulance coming?”

I glanced at the phone again. The call was probably still connected. I nodded.

“Good.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her trembling arms around them.

Shivers tore through me. I forced myself to look at her face.

I used to room with a girl on the inside who’d been stabbed to death with a spork. I knew those tears well.

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