Pacing–Now and Then
My first post on the Passionate Critters’ (hereafter referred to as PC 
)blog, and I’m a bit nervous. See my hands trembling? My name is Jennifer Bianco, please call me Jenn, and I’m an aspiring writer of light, humorous mysteries with romantic and sometimes paranormal elements. I’m currently working on a YA mystery–hopefully the first of a series.
Yesterday, my daughter and I watched The Seventh Sign, with Demi Moore and Michael Biehn. I first saw it when it first came out in 1988. I fell in love with this movie–it’s twists and turns, the information, the ending. I purchased the VHS and must’ve watched it at least 10 times. It spoke to me on so many levels, and when I happened to turn to a channel showing it, just as it began, I couldn’t believe it. I became very excited and told my daughter how awesome it is.
Then a good 45 minutes in, I thought about how slow it seemed. Where were the good parts? Why was everyone just talking? I knew how it ended, and recalled some of the parts where I once oohed and ahhed, but they seemed sooo far away. It was during the middle of this movie that I realized how times have changed.
We hear all the time how we don’t have the attention spans we once did due to the media. Commercials deliver a full commercial in 30 second…S.E.C.O.N.D.S! Can you believe that? I watch commercials all the time (HUGE television fan here), but I never counted how long they were–never cared. The shows my kids watch zip, zing and zap. We’ve grown accustomed to fast, fast, fast.
Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of groans from other writers who enter contests and receive comments about how their book opening is too slow. Does every beginning nowadays need explosions in the first 250 words? Are stories only good if they’re chock full of trapeze acts? What about the slower, more quiet stories that still grip your heart and thrill your soul? Is the destination good only if the journey is strung out on caffeine?
Don’t get me wrong, I love an exciting explosion or edge-of-your-seat tension throughout, but if we continue at this pace, where will we be in another 20 years?
