Pacing is the speed at which a story is told, set by how much time and space each event, scene and passage of description gets on the page, and not necessarily by how fast things happen in the story.
Where the term comes from
Merriam-Webster defines pacing as the rate of movement or of progress. The Wikipedia article on pace in narrative applies it to fiction: pace or pacing is the speed at which a story is told, not necessarily the speed at which the story takes place. It says description and narration move a story slowly and steadily, while action and dialogue speed it up, and lists short scenes, short sentences, frequent paragraphing and cutting flab as ways to quicken pace, and description and introspection as ways to slow it. It also links pacing to tension, since controlling the speed at which information is revealed can build anticipation.
An example
A chase scene in a thriller might run four pages of short sentences and fast dialogue: Tobias Reyes dodges a taxi, loses his phone, hides behind a market stall. The next chapter spends six slow pages on his grandmother's kitchen, the smell of cumin and a single quiet conversation about the man he is running from. The speed change is deliberate. After the chase, the slowdown lets readers breathe and care about what he stands to lose, and the next chase hits harder.
Common mistakes
- Running at one speed. A book that is all action wears readers out, and one that is all reflection loses them.
- Slowing down at the wrong moment, such as pausing for backstory in the middle of a fight.
- Rushing the scenes that matter most, such as a decision or a loss, while lingering over routine events.
- Overcorrecting a slow draft by cutting every quiet scene, which also cuts the character work.
- Judging pace by word count alone. A long scene can feel fast if every paragraph turns something.
How to check your manuscript
Mark each chapter as fast, medium or slow. Then read the sequence. You are looking for long runs at a single speed, and for slow stretches that arrive just where the story needs tension. For each slow scene, ask what it gives the reader, such as a feeling, a clue or a change in a relationship. If it gives nothing, trim it, or move the information into a faster scene. For each fast scene, check that readers know what is at stake. A plot outline with one line per scene makes this much easier to see, and the revision guide discusses it.
Musael's plan board shows status and notes on every scene in a single view, so you can see the rhythm of the whole book before you start cutting.