Pacing
In short: Pacing is the speed of the telling: the interplay of fast, dense passages and slow, detailed ones – and thus a key tool for steering tension and attention.
How to control the tempo
Short sentences speed up: In action and escalation, terse sentences and paragraphs feel faster; long, calm sentences deliberately slow things down.
Scene vs. summary: Show what matters as a played-out scene; compress the incidental into a few sentences.
Alternate: Constant full throttle exhausts, constant calm bores. The switch keeps readers awake.
Related terms: Narrative Arc · Show, don't tell · Dialogue · Cliffhanger
Frequently asked questions
What does pacing mean in writing?
The story's tempo – how fast or slow it feels, controlled through sentence length, scene length and level of detail.
How do I speed up a scene?
With shorter sentences, less description, more action and dialogue.