As we draw near to the English Language examinations here’s a wonderful insight into pace in storytelling. According to D B Pierre, writing is like running. It’s all about breathing. Think of action as inhalation and reflection as exhalation.
‘A book that feels good to read, a book that’s alive and healthy, has a respiratory cycle. It breathes in and out. Action is action and reflection is reflection and they come one after the other, not in between. ‘
Good insight – effective rhythm and pacing increase a reader’s involvement in a story, helping to create (depending on the story) expectation, tension, release, excitement, suspence, comedy (that makes me think of the old observation that the secret of comedy is timing – and how timing is also one of the secrets for other effects too.)