I want to speed the plot up

ladyvincenza · Jun 9, 2011

This isn't YA specific, but in my novel, a young critiquer advised me that parts of the novel slowed the plot down and were a bit boring. (I personally don't see it in at least one chapter, but hopefully she'll explain it to me. After all, she's the audience and hence, right.) Any suggestions for speeding the plot up? I feel like unless I add another conflict-- a fist fight, to use and extreme example-- I'm stuck.
Thanks!

wandergirl · Jun 9, 2011

A few thoughts:
--Is there a lot of internalization? Do the characters pause and think a bit after almost every scrap of dialogue or action? Are there entire paragraphs where they're mulling stuff over?
--Is there too much description?
--Is there too much action woven into conversations? I see this a lot. Some of it is necessary to keep a conversation dynamic, but too much slows down the flow of dialogue. I mean characters thinking or doing something after almost every line.
Run through the book with a massive pair of scissors and see what you can cut, on a micro and macro level. Think in beats. Anything that pauses the flow for any reason should be deliberate -- it should be a necessary pause, worth breaking the momentum for.

Becca C. · Jun 9, 2011

Definitely check for internal monologues. I do a fair bit of critiquing, and I often see a lot of inner monologuing and characters going on and on about their feelings and thoughts when those things are already apparent from the dialogue. Trust your reader to understand what the characters are thinking. Soliloquies are often unnecessary.

Also, as Kirsten said, look on a macro level, as well. Are there whole paragraphs, even whole scenes you could axe without losing much? If there are, definitely do it.

DanielaTorre · Jun 9, 2011

Ask your reader to give you examples of what she found slow. Maybe you can take it from there.

Step away from your novel. Come back to it later and start hacking off parts. You said that you couldn't see the slow parts she was talking about. That's probably because you're still too close to your work. Wait a while and come back to it with fresh eyes and hopefully you'll see it. One thing that's been helping me is the "Shrunken Manuscript Technique". Basically you turn the font size in your work to about a 5 or 6 point and condense it into 30 pages or so. Print it out and mark your strongest chapters. Whatever is left probably needs work.

And finally, get more betas. Don't guide yourself be just one person's opinion. Get 1 or 2 more and see what they have to say.

jenelcc · Jun 9, 2011

Two ideas:

-Similar to the other advice - ask for the specific bits that are "too slow" and do an experiment where you axe them entirely from the draft. Then see how much you really need from those parts of the story.

-Use the "slow bits" to enhance some other part of the story that is lacking. For example, I had a part in one of my drafts that was the glue between two more exciting scenes and initially it was boring. As a separate issue in revising I realized I needed more scenes that showed two particular characters interacting. I revised that "glue" sequence, adding a short but punchy bit with those two characters, and it really improved things, fixing two problems at once.

AlwaysJuly · Jun 10, 2011

I'd definitely recommend getting more than one opinion. It's very helpful to get feedback, but unless you see the problem in the story, I wouldn't start making alterations to suit one reader alone.

I'm a big believer in a) fixing the trends multiple readers point out and b) considering all other advice and making alterations when I agree with it.

ladyvincenza · Jun 14, 2011

Thanks, guys. This is really helpful

A few writers have told me before to show the characters' responses to something, emotionally. "How does she feel about this?" I always was skeptical about it: let's say the MC just heard the news that his child has diabetes. I mean, isn't it obvious how he must feel? So the suggestion that I take out internal dialogue is advice that I like, but am hesitant to do. Yes, I know that's subjective, but how do you guys respond to it?
I have trouble writing longer novels. This one is about 140 pages, double-spaced. It's YA, so I can get away with that length, but I'm afraid if I cut too much I'll be left with something too short to be called a novel. I'm not sure why it is I have trouble writing longer books; I don't seem to know how to stretch the plot while maintaining the tension.
I have experience loving novels that had lots of scenes which were wonderfully descriptive and said a lot about the uniqueness of the setting, but didn't really have relevance to the plot. It makes me wonder why you never hear writers encourage that method.

DennyCrane · Jun 15, 2011

Kirsten (wandergirl) highlighted the usual suspects. You might want to check on those. Something else you might want to look into, is if the "slow bits" are necessary to the story and move the plot forward. It may be time to kill you darlings.

I want to speed the plot up

ladyvincenza

user-set title

wandergirl

~kirsten hubbard

Becca C.

DanielaTorre

...

jenelcc

A good kind of crazy

AlwaysJuly

slugging through

ladyvincenza

user-set title

DennyCrane

Dude. Seriously.