Tells, unconscious movements that telegraph a person’s emotions, are beloved by novelists and gamblers. A character may rub his neck when he lies. Another character might pick at her split ends when she’s bored. Eyebrows frequently rise. Jaws are forever dropping. But sometimes a character has such a unique and memorable tell that it jumps… Read more »
November 2018
Varying the Tempo
The appropriate pacing for a novel depends on the audience, genre and plot type. A literary novel aimed at educated women will likely be slower paced than a midgrade novel targeted at elementary school boys. If the pacing is too slow for its audience, the reader may wonder if anything will ever happen. If the… Read more »