Pacing Through Conflict
A look at what determines good pacing for a novel
All genres need conflict, every scene needs conflict. Conflict is what drives the story onward, keeps people reading. It creates a sense of urgency and adds weight for the characters, the world, and the reader. What that conflict looks like will depend on the story and genre, but from the very beginning, you need to hook the reader through the inciting event (conflict) within the first 20 pages.
Now this does not mean your characters have to be angry or miserable all the time. In fact, happiness can be a great source of conflict. When a character experiences true happiness, joy, or love, and then is forced to fight for or defend it, that is an excellent source of conflict as it provides motivation.
Types of conflict
Conflict within a character
These are the internal struggles, emotional turmoil, and internal motivations that drive a character’s actions. What makes a novel wholly unique is how the reader can enter the mind of a character and experience what the character is experiencing. This is a valuable tool, but it must be used wisely. Overreliance on being in the character’s head will drag down the pacing instead of elevating it.
Examples:
An inner drive or goal pushing the character to make choices
An inner turmoil pushing the character to make choices
Fear, anger, sadness, mistrust, love, joy, envy, bitterness, lack of comfort or security
Conflict between characters
When people think of conflict between characters, they usually think of a huge argument or a sword fight. While these are examples of conflict between characters, they are hardly the sole examples.
Examples:
Differing personalities entering a room together
Miscommunications
Lack of trust
Characters wanting the same limited resource
Characters in competition with each other
Characters being forced to work together
An actual fight, whether physical or verbal
Working together to try and solve a problem
Situational conflict
These are external sources of conflict deriving not from other characters, but from the situation around the characters.
Examples:
Natural disasters
Lack of resources
Food, water, shelter, money, time, etc.
Disease, death
A large distance between characters
Long distance relationship, long travel time
Attack from an animal/monster
Dragon that must be slain, ant infestation
Slow pacing warning signs
When you’re writing or editing, how do you know whether a scene is engaging enough? How do you know if the pacing is too slow, too fast, or just right? Unfortunately, there is no perfect indicator and audience/genre will play a significant role in whether your reader will find the pacing engaging enough. However, there are some questions you can ask yourself that can help.
Is this interesting to write?
If you’re bored writing the scene, there’s a pretty good chance your reader will be bored too.
However, even if you hit writer’s block or don’t feel like writing, that doesn’t necessarily mean the scene itself is boring.
Are you feeling a sense of urgency?
Do you feel the tension and sense of urgency in the characters and the plot? Or has everything tapered off?
If you don’t feel the sense of urgency, it might be because the source of conflict is gone.
Does my beta reader, friends, and or family think it’s interesting?
Sometimes you need input from others. Ask targeted questions about a scene if you’re worried about the pacing.
Is there a point to the scene you’re writing?
If there’s no point to the scene, then what’s the point of writing or reading it. Yes, the characters might need to do the laundry, but if there’s no conflict or anything interesting happening, then don’t dedicate an entire paragraph or scene to it.
What conflict or struggle is the character facing?
Are my characters too comfortable?
Push your characters out of their comfort zones where anything can happen.
Are you spending too much time in the character’s head?
Showing the character’s thoughts is important. But there aren’t consequences for a character thinking something. Actions are always more interesting than thoughts because there are actual consequences for those choices.
How to add conflict
When a scene is flat, raise the stakes by showing the character’s internal and external struggles. Then take those struggles and sources of conflict, and insert them into the characters’ dialogue, actions, and internal dialogue.
Think about these questions while adding conflict”
What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to your characters in the world you’ve created?
The worst possible scenario doesn’t always have to happen, but thinking about it can be a valuable exercise in thinking about potential sources of conflict.
What needs to happen to make the characters grow?
The characters will not grow unless you make them. Force them into uncomfortable situations where they must make choices.
Get out of character’s head
In general, avoid spending more than a sentence to a paragraph in a character’s head. They can think about how angry they are, but it’s much more interesting to see that anger come out in their actions and dialogue