Blog 47: Can you handle your Advent?

Does anyone else feel like this year has gone by incredibly fast? It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were celebrating the New Year, and tomorrow we are at the beginning of December.

Yes, tomorrow I will be wading into the attic and getting out all the Christmas decorations. I will put on some Christmas music and try to erect the tree while six cats attack it at various stages. And it is also the first day of Advent, where we all get to open a window and see what treat lies in wait behind it! I recall sharing one with my older brother when we were growing up. However, one particular year, being unable to contain my excitement for the big day, I made my own. So, every other day I opened a window of the shared one but each day I got to open mine. I actually believe this helped advent tick along more swiftly.

I have to say that even though I really don’t enjoy the chilly weather of winter, I do love the Christmas season. Being brought up as a Christian it was always about family and friends coming together to celebrate. I loved the carols, the decorations, how everything just felt brighter and more welcoming because there was a little bit of magic in the air. Like a shared secret, something was coming and the few weeks that led up to it just made us increasingly excited about that day. Even when I no longer believed in Father Christmas, I still looked forward to it. Of course, it changes when you get older. I think having children makes you enjoy it all over again through them. Now, with a 13 and an 18-year-old, Christmas feels different again. But really all it has ever been is appreciating your loved ones and trying to make them happy. And that doesn’t change. There’s still lots to be excited about, yummy food, presents, hugs, Christmas music and time off school and work for a few weeks.

I’m gonna tell you a joke from 21+ Advent Calendar Jokes And Funny Puns - JokoJokes, stop me if you’ve heard it, or, you know, skip it:

I just got home to find all the doors and windows wide open. Everything’s gone!!! What kind of sicko does that to someone else’s advent calendar?

Can you imagine someone eating all those chocolates in one go? Or, the unspeakable, like my daughter, they don't eat any of them. I mean, who leaves chocolate uneaten?

One Christmas morning, when I was still at primary school, I rang my best friend after opening my presents to find out what she had got. I was a little puzzled and taken aback to hear her disappointed voice on the other end of the line as she told me she hadn’t received anything for Christmas. This wasn’t technically true. She had received quite a few presents but had opened them upon receipt from her family and friends, leaving her nothing for Christmas morning!

It may seem very difficult to pace yourself when it comes to things like this, but timing is everything. If you jump ahead and do things prematurely, you are just spoiling it for yourself. It’s like someone letting on about a surprise party before the day. No surprises, no lead up to the excitement, no guessing of what could happen means a disappointing result.

This is exactly the same when it comes to structuring our stories. Pacing is so important. Things can build up far too quickly, then get stuck with nothing happening, and resolve too easily at the end, making it seem too quick or unrealistic, or just a let down to the whole story. When what we need is one window being open at a time: one conflict, creating an action, one reaction and then onto the next window. We need an unravelling of plot where each open window feeds into the bigger picture, carrying the reader through. The further we get the more intense it should be. The climax is right around the corner, and we can feel the weight of the character’s journey as they have climbed this far and wonder what on earth they are going to do. What will they decide? How could this possibly end?

And you must have decent windows. Do you remember a few years ago the complaints received from the people that decided to buy the Celebrations advent calendars? Christmas was apparently ruined because the first day was … a Bounty! A touch dramatic, if you knew it could include a chocolate that you don’t like, then why buy it? Easy for me to say when I quite enjoy a Bounty. However, my point is, you don’t want to dish out disappointment. You need to make sure your plot has enough conflict and momentum to carry your reader through. So, don’t put any Bounties in there, each point in your story should be significant and connected to the bigger picture, building on what has gone before – another layer of wrapping paper if you will.

You will know yourself when reading a book if you struggled to get through it: you lost interest because nothing was happening or couldn’t follow it because things like detail, long sentences or dialogue overshadowed the action. So, what tips can I give you about pacing your story? Let’s open the first window and take a look: -

Balance – it isn’t making sure you do this and only this, everything should have a balance: dialogue to narrative, showing to telling, vary sentence and paragraph lengths from longer to shorter to change your pace from slow to quick. Too much action is exhausting, so think about how to create an overall balance for the reader.

Assess the structure – writing out the progression of your story with your plot points can show you if you have positioned these in the right places, whether the plot points are significant and if they have accurately propelled the story forwards without speeding it up prematurely. Remember your narrative and character arcs, does your plot align with these?

Character development – the story is experienced through your main character(s) so take time to introduce them to your reader through dialogue, internal monologue, and their previous memories. Make sure we get to know them and care about what is happening to them. Ensure your words count. Clues about what they say, what they are wearing, how they live etc can all help us understand who they are.

POV – A fantastic way to create pacing is to switch POVs. If you have more than one main character, flitting between the two as you build the story is an excellent way to keep a steady pace throughout.

Info reveal – look back at your structure of plot points and work out when and how to tease the reader with clues as to what is happening and is going to happen to create tension and keep them guessing.

Size matters – shortening or lengthening words, sentences, paras and even chapters can either slow down or quicken the pace of your story. An action scene would need to feel quicker and more intense. However, to create suspense you may need to slow things down to let it build tension.

Details – don’t forget to show what is going on, this can build a picture and slow down time when you need to. Focus on the senses of your characters to help the reader fully experience the scene. I'm not saying show, don't tell. Remember it's all in the balance.

Time is of the essence – a short timeframe creates more tension and ups the stakes. Maybe you need to make things more time sensitive to create more urgency as you build up to your climax.

Read aloud -  I’ve said this before,  but actually hearing your story out loud, whether you read it, someone reads to you or the computer does, listening to the rhythm in your writing will help you work out whether you have created the right momentum. You can of course ask the opinions of others, preferably someone independent, like a Beta Reader, so you know you will get unbiased feedback.

Cutting back – if it doesn’t add anything to your story, has already been said and wouldn’t be missed, then it doesn’t need to be there. Any scenes of information that doesn’t have a clear purpose is essentially just going to drag your story down. So, snip snip!

As you begin advent, tear open your first window and pop a choc in your mouth, take a moment to think about the pacing of your current WIP. Perhaps the 1^st of December is the time to assess and review your story to ensure it truly captures those that are going to read it. Go on, make some magic for Christmas!

See you next time.