My own #Sustember answer

Nothing really in #TFTNG / Aloe / Lemon Balm, unless you count that Supernaturals aren't known by humans at all.

In #S3novel and #YuleParlay, there isn't much of anything.

I make sure that each chapter has a goal as I draft it. If I feel like I'm losing sight of what I'm supposed to be accomplishing, I ask myself what the goal is and look for evidence about whether I'm accomplishing it. This is especially helpful as a discovery writer.

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#Sustember | 17

Do you have any conspiracies in your work? Or, do your characters believe in any conspiracies?

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#Sustember Sept 16

NO INFO DUMPS! Exposition is the devil. If I find I'm getting bored with my story while I'm writing it, it's often because I started telling rather than showing. If I fall asleep, the reader will too. Keep the pace going even during slow points. It's an ebb and flow.

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This is why I'm going PolyPoV for my current WIP. With multiple plots running in parallel, I can rotate and keep 'a' storyline running constantly. Slow points are still important for maintaining tension, but with the action never quite stopping, we never hit 'downtime'. Hopefully.

I love this question, b/c pacing is so hard to teach/learn! You NEED breathers for your reader, & those are the perfect moments to push other aspects fwd. Like friendships, bantering, falling in love... those moments keep reader interest while allowing the story to flow.

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When in doubt, burn down their house. Blow up their car.

Drastically change the status quo. Take away the things that make them feel safe. Turn a revelation on its head. Question their sanity.

Instant tension and it ramps up the pace again instantaneously.

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In something like suspense, an underlying anxiety and anticipation is always present, even in the quieter moments where the plot is moving but action isn't necessarily happening. Foreshadowing, off-kilter interactions, scenery, and the constant looming of threat all can accomplish this #Sustember

- Not everything *needs* to be shown. A character driving from point A to point B doesn't need to be shown unless something happens to move the plot along during the trip. A scene can just start with the character there already, parking their car, or even walking in from the parking lot
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Knowing when to cut is key in pacing

I do a lot of cliffhanger cuts in the chapter breaks of the more heisty Always Get In a Spaceship With a Scoundrel: in between the action and the 🌶️ action 🌶️, but the author also has control over what is shown. For instance -
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In Resist, it is long enough that it needs rest stops to balance in the urgency. Given that, it needs to create a rhythm to the story.

Shadow Cursed is so short it doesn't have the room for the same types of rest points. The issue with rhythm is the reason I destroyed the original...
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My own #Sustember answer -- I always have something happening. If the overarching problem is one that is a slow, gut-rot inducing dread, then the granular issues-- distractions from the main problem-- are at the forefront. Nightmares, a new thing popping up because of the overarching problem, etc.

#Sustember | 16

My whole wheelhouse is sloth burn 🦥❤️‍🔥. So part of my whole vibe is slowing things down to build that suspense. But while I'm doing that, I'm building the relationship, letting it bloom so there's things at risk later—so that when I finally release the pressure, it feels earned.

#Sustember | 16

Sorry y'all, running late today! I slept in.

Slow points can really kill suspense. What do you do to avoid slowdowns in your pacing?

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Since my characters are hopeless lesbians in slow-burn romance novels, I use that to keep that yearning going a little bit longer.

Two ways I've done this is with incomplete information (WIP1) and background/history that informs bad decisions (WIP2) both of which have delayed resolutions