How to Pace a Narrative

Edgar Rice Burroughs was a master of pace, but he didn't know all the tricks right off the bat. In fact, he had to write a few books before he acquired the knack of making readers turn pages. True, his plots were exciting, but the key pacing tools only came later, after he had completed A Princess of Mars. (Note 1) With later books he learned two things that helped him pace his stories for maximum excitement. These devices can be employed by any writer who gives thought the the shape of a story.

The first technique is to switch action between one person in one chapter and another person in the next. For example, in some of his books, such as Tarzan, Burroughs employs this device. By leaving one character, the reader is forced to wait until his story is rejoined. This enhances suspense and helps pace a story.

The other technique is to speed up the action for certain sections and then pause and slow things down. In this way, manipulating the tempo of the narrative, Burroughs keeps the reader involved but not exhausted. By making everything run at top speed, some writers fail to pace themselves. Just as a runner cannot win a race by running at top speed the entire time, a writer should vary the pace to achieve maximim effect. For example, in A Fighting Man of Mars there are extended scenes where Hadron of Hastor is searching on the Red Planet for a missing princess. These slower-moving sections allow Burroughs to build up tension. These scenes also vary the intensity of the story and contrast with the exciting fights, battles, and near-death escapes that occur in other sections.

References

1. Lupoff, Richard A. Edgar Rice Burroughs, master of adventure. Revised and enlarged edition. New York: Ace, 1968. p. 48.
2. P. 84. (A "dramatic pause or contrast" makes for effective pacing.) Theory and the Novel: Narrative Reflexivity in the British Tradition. Jeffrey Williams. Cambridge University Press, 1998.