Pacing Perfection in 4:20 Minutes Flat

Plot.

Pacing.

They go together like cookies and milk. Good pacing reflects a well-plotted novel, and poor pacing? Well, it's a plot (and novel) killer.

Now, in writing circles, there's heaps of talk about pantsers versus plotters. About whether you write the story as it comes to you, needing that creative freedom, or whether you write better with structure, using an outline, a beat sheet, or an entire wall filled with post-it notes with your key plot points. Either way, it's all good, as long as it works for you. (Me, I'm a panster, but I use an editorial road map during revisions.)

This post isn't about your method, or any method, good or bad. It's about feel. As I've said before, I believe good writing is like good music--that good writing is effortless for the reader, and that prose should have a rhythm that lets the story flow and keeps the reader engaged.

Pacing is the same.

You can graph and chart and plot your novel all day, but you will know you've hit the pacing sweet spot when it feels right. When it flows and keeps the reader engaged at every moment.

The best example I can give is the cover of Taylor Swift's song "I Knew You Were Trouble"  by the amazing group Walk Off The Earth. Their a capella-beatbox version blows me away every time I watch it. Why? Because their pacing is genius. Yes, they have T. Swift's brilliant storytelling and melody to work with, which deserves top credit. But WOTE's arrangement is pacing perfection in 4:20 flat.

The clip opens with one pure and distinctive voice to start...perfect for hooking the listener and setting the tone. Then, one at a time, members join, adding their vocal talents, letting the melody rise and fall and each addition and sound is perfectly timed.

It feels right.

Take a look and judge for yourself. :)

Amazing right?

This video has 9, 972, 747 views. Um, yeah. So I think it's pretty fair to say it hits the pacing sweet spot.:) And now Walk Off The Earth has their own record deal, which I think is pretty cool too.

So, how's your novel coming along? How does it feel? Have you hit the pacing sweet spot yet?:)

The Next Big Thing

Readers comb through bookstores...agents scour slush...editors sift through submissions...critics devour debut novels...all searching for The Next Big Thing.

Me? I troll YouTube. Not for new writers, but for new artists. :)

Sure I'm on iTunes weekly *cough* daily *cough* checking out the Single of the Week and surfing through Genius recommendations, which many or may not be anywhere close to genius. But I'm not afraid to jump into the time-sucking YouTube waters either.

And YouTube is where I discovered Hannah Trigwell.* (Or technically, where my husband discovered Hannah Trigwell and I am henceforth taking half-credit. :D) A singer-songwriter from Leeds (I have a crazy fondness for English artists), Hannah is the real deal. We stumbled upon a clip of her singing a cover of Taylor Swift's song We Are Never Getting Back Together--it was a collaboration with Boyce Avenue, who is also now Hannah's label-mate--and Hannah's voice blew us away.

Here's that clip, but wait. Don't listen . . . yet.

Then we listened to her cover of Hallelujah (just-wow), and proceeded to watch heaps of her videos. The girl has her own YouTube channel, which is impressive. Talk about knowing how to reach an audience and being a savvy social-media marketer which is key in today's digital world. Hannah recently inked a deal with 3 Peace Records, which makes me all kinds of happy, because it means I'll get to hear more from her.

But back to Hannah's voice. It's amazing. Rich, textured, emotive. It's got qualities that remind me of Taylor Swift, Natalie Mechant, and Ingrid Michaelson, and yet, Hannah is just Hannah.

Of course, the minute I left YouTube, I went straight to iTunes (yup, no willpower y'all. My Christmas giftcard didn't last long!) and downloaded her original album, Pieces, which has three songs: Headrush, Pieces and Give It Up. Headrush is my favorite track, but all three are fantastic.

Here's a YouTube clip of Headrush. I chose this video because you can see her album cover but this clip is just her voice. So sit back, close your eyes, and listen. 

Amazing right? Now go back up and listen to her cover of TSwift. Totally awesome, I know. :)

Here's another clip of her singing an original song, Give It Up. It's just Hannah, a microphone and a guitar. Check it out...

What kills me is how many people just walk by Hannah . . . and never stop to listen. Many don't even look her way. 

Are we really all that busy? How many books have people missed because they don't recognize the name, or are too busy to stop and read the back jacket of an unknown debut author, one that didn't have all the hype?

I don't know if Hannah is the Next Big Thing or not. I do know that her album rocks, and that if she comes to the States anywhere close to me, I'll go see her. In the meantime, I'll enjoy her U.S. debut. She may not be a big name (yet) but I like her voice and her music, and I'm so glad I stopped to listen. 

So take a chance. On an unknown writer, on a hometown band just starting out or on a singer-songwriter halfway around the world. You just might be surprised.:)

What new artists/bands have you discovered lately? And do you think they just might be the NBT?

*FYI: You can find out more about Hannah Trigwell on her website and on Twitter.

Tuning Into Writer's Block

I’m the Nashville girl, which I guess makes me the country girl? Well, something like that.
 
I live in a town that is so fueled by music, we earned ourselves the official title of “Music City.” There is music everywhere–good music too–new, talented artists flock here on a daily basis, looking for a chance to make it.

As a writer, I sort of luck out with that.

I’m not sure what the connection is between music and imagination. I’d like to learn more about it though, because I know it’s a strong one. So strong that the main way I develop story ideas is through listening to music–live, radio, award shows–you name it, I want to daydream to it. 

Writers deal with writer’s block in all sorts of ways, but over the years, I’ve developed a method that seems to be almost foolproof for me: I drive. I get in my car, hit the scan button on the radio and turn the ignition key.

I let the songs on the radio skip and surprise me until a sound, a lyric, or a feeling sets my daydreaming on a determinate path. I daydream about a lyric my character might’ve said or if the sound of the song could be the background music to a particular scene. I drive and drive until I’m daydreaming in three-dimensions. Then, typically, I pull over and make voice memos to myself about it so I won’t forget.

I’m not saying my music daydreaming will work for everyone, but it’s one that has worked in my favor time and again.

For example, I’m working on a story right now that’s a twist on Greek myth. It deals with gods, zodiacs and fate. Over the holidays, I was explaining my idea to my dad. He shook his head and asked me how I came up with such a thing. I laughed and I told him I didn’t know.

But I do.

I was trying to outline the new novel and I was failing. In fact, I had five different outlines saved on my laptop and I hated every single one. But then I'd gone over to a friend's house to watch the AMAs (the American Music Awards) and saw Taylor Swift’s performance of “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Halfway through her set, something in my brain clicked about the character I was trying to create and I thought to myself, “Now she would be TroubleTROUBLEtrouble.”

The outline that followed turned into 330 pages of a manuscript. 

So if you're stuck, my advice is to get in your car and let the radio surprise you or watch some of last night's GRAMMY performances and let your imagination go. 

But if you've got a full proof writer's block method that works for you, let us in on it! I want to know.