Balancing Action

I think one of the most important aspects of writing that determine whether we like a book or not is the pacing and balance of action; what happens, how often action occurs, how long does it last, etc. It can be pretty hard to control your pacing in a book, as often we just want to follow the original idea and write it in a way that just naturally just flows this way or that.

What we have to realize though, is that at the end of the day we really are just entertainers. You should write a story so that it appeals to not only you, but to the reader. If a part of the story is too slow or boring, then you need to revise it, and there are several ways you can do this.

First, put some new minor conflicts in. Give your protagonists some new problems to conquer and beat. It doesn't have to be anything new about the plot line or provide any new major ideas, just a little something to provide a hill to get over. It keeps your readers more interested (and can also keep you more interested while writing) and provides an opportunity to learn something new about your characters.

That leads into my second point, which would be to make sure and constantly provide new information. Often times the best, "boring parts," can teach you a lot about your characters and how they think. Also, it can often work as a time to build relationships between them. NEVER just assume the reader will understand the relationship between your characters. You have to demonstrate it through their actions, their dialogue, and their descriptions/thoughts (depending on point of view.). These down moments between events is the perfect time to show this, that way your climaxes are better and your readers get more attached to the characters.

The last thing that I would say is pretty simple. Involve humor in your piece. Although humor isn't often something that's needed in a story, it does a great job of keeping readers intrigued and more into your story. It can be used in lots of situations, can help create or show relationships, can give you insight on a character, and so many other things. It really is just great to have humor involved in your writing.

I've already talked a little about this series, but I'm gonna rave a bit more about my favorite series, the Game of Thrones franchise. It's known for having only one or two major events in the books as well as long breaks in between where not much happens, however he uses these three strategies to always keep you addicted to the books. I'm usually not to much of a stickler on how slow or fast paced a books story line is as long as it's good, but man, I felt like I read that book cover to cover without setting it down. You can't get a much better example of balancing action then those. Anyway guys, I hope you learned a little something today, until next time, peace.

-Ink