FOCUS ON... Pace | Australian Writers' Centre

HomeFOCUS ON… Pace

Maintain the interest and engagement of your reader

You have great characters and a terrific plot, but somehow your story just doesn’t work… It’s too slow. Or maybe too fast!

This Focus On session will take a deep dive into pace, including:

What is pace?
How pace needs to change over the course of a story
How to control pace both within scenes and over the whole story
What pace is required for the genre of your story?

Every genre and sub-genre has its own requirement in terms of pace. You probably know what yours is – but do you know how to achieve it? Do you know the nuts and bolts of how to control pace so that it builds narrative tension so that readers can’t put your book down?

Key information
Key information:
This is an online self-paced seminar This is an online self-paced seminar Duration: 1.5 hours. Your 12 months’ access begins straight away Duration: 1.5 hours. Your 12 months’ access begins straight away Seminar presenter: Pamela Freeman Seminar presenter: Pamela Freeman $65

Pace has both macro and micro elements – all of which you can control. It might be the style or the shape of your paragraphs. It could be the number of scenes and how long each of them are. Or perhaps it's the ratio of plot movement to words. There are dozens of ways you can improve your control of pace. And this seminar will show you exactly what you need to do for your story. Why should you care? The best plot in the world won’t work if the pace is wrong – especially if it’s too slow. This Focus On session will help you give your stories pizzazz and rhythm…until your readers are dancing to your tune!

“I finally understand all the elements of pacing! This seminar exceeded my expectations. Pamela Freeman never fails to provide value for money with a richness of content, generosity and depth of wisdom, and content that is understandable and so actionable.”

Catharine

In this FOCUS ON seminar

Pamela focuses on how to maintain the interest and engagement of your reader through the fundamentals of pace. Is your story too slow or is it too fast? You can lose your reader either way. Pamela looks at the nuts and bolts of how to control pace so that it builds narrative tension and keeps your readers engaged.

Each FOCUS ON seminar explores an important aspect of the art of writing – in an interactive, accessible and efficient way. The session consists of a 1 hour expert presentation plus an additional 30 minute Q&A – designed to entertain, educate and inspire you to improve your craft.

“I now understand the pace required in completing a successful novel. I love the way Pamela presents her material plus it is always so informative.”

Patrizia Smrekar

Meet your presenter

Pamela Freeman is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 40 books and novellas, plus short stories and scripts. She writes under two names: Pamela Freeman for children’s and fantasy, and Pamela Hart for mystery novels and historical fiction.

Prolific across multiple genres, Pamela has a Doctorate in Creative Arts (Writing) and she has been the director of creative writing here at the Australian Writers' Centre for over 10 years.

Key information
Key information:
This is an online self-paced seminar This is an online self-paced seminar Duration: 1.5 hours. Your 12 months’ access begins straight away Duration: 1.5 hours. Your 12 months’ access begins straight away Seminar presenter: Pamela Freeman Seminar presenter: Pamela Freeman $65