Writing Excuses

Our hosts explore the many tools writers can use to control pacing. We discuss how cadence, transitions, tone, sentence structure, and white space can all speed up or slow down a reader’s experience. And remember, fast is not inherently better than slow! This conversation highlights the importance of contrast—pairing fast and slow moments, tension and calm, or different emotional states—to make pacing more effective. Along the way, we examine examples from fiction, personal experiences, and neuroscience to better understand how readers process time and information. Homework:Take a single event and write it two ways: first so the reading time roughly matches the amount of time the event takes, and then again so the reading time is much longer than the event itself. Compare how the different pacing changes the reader’s experience.Final WXR Cruise! Our final WXR cruise is sold out, but you can join our waitlist here!Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Erin Roberts.