Pacing and Focus: Keep It Snappy, Keep It Sharp

A book In focus out of focus

Okay, let’s be honest: we’ve all read a book (or article, or email from that one colleague) that droned on and on making us wonder if we had time to start a new hobby before they got to the point. On the flip side, we’ve also read things that moved so fast we felt like we were being dragged through a hurricane of words, left gasping and unsure of what just happened.

So how do you nail pacing and focus in your writing? Let’s break it down.

Pacing: The Speedometer of Your Story

Think of pacing like a car ride. Some parts should be fast and thrilling—a high-speed chase through a storm, an emotional revelation, or a heated argument. Other parts need to slow down—a tender moment between characters, a description that makes the world feel real, or a beat of silence before the next big event.

Too fast? Whoa, slow down there!

If your story moves at warp speed, your readers might feel like they’re trying to drink from a fire hose. Action scenes are great, but if you’re throwing too much at once, the impact gets lost. Imagine watching a movie where every scene is a car chase—by the third one, you’re just… tired.

Fix it:Add breathing room. Let the reader sit in a moment before rushing them to the next thing. A quick internal thought, a small descriptive pause—these little touches let big moments land.

Too slow? Pick up the pace!

Ever read a book where the first 30 pages describe a single sunset? Beautiful? Maybe. Page-turner? Nope. If your readers are mentally making grocery lists while they read, it’s time to tighten things up.

Fix it: Look at your descriptions. Are they adding value, or are they just there to sound poetic? Do we need five paragraphs about how a character brushes their hair, or can we say she raked a hand through her tangled curls and sighed and move on?

Focus: Keep Your Story on Track

Ever start telling a story and somehow end up on a completely unrelated tangent? (“So I was at the grocery store, which reminds me, did I tell you about my aunt’s dog? Anyway, back to the point…”)

That’s what happens when writing loses focus. Readers signed up for a story—not an aimless tour of random thoughts.

Signs Your Writing Needs More Focus:

✔ You can’t sum up your scene in one sentence.

✔ You keep adding extra details that don’t actually serve the plot.

✔ Readers keep asking, “Wait, what was happening again?”

Fix it: Before you start writing (or revising), ask: What is this scene doing? Moving the plot forward? Revealing character depth? Building tension? If the answer is none of the above, it might be time to cut or condense.

The Secret Sauce: Balance

Great writing is all about knowing when to speed up and when to slow down, when to zoom in and when to stay on track. Give your readers the thrill of a roller coaster with the right moments to catch their breath.

And remember: if you’re bored writing it, they’ll be bored reading it. So mix it up, keep it tight, and have fun!

---

WinWin

by Liz Dubelman

WinWin (a continuing story read here or read the summary below)

Betty is 60, broke, and fresh off a disastrous fling with a younger man that drained her savings. But she’s not going down without a fight. Armed with a wildly impractical list of money-making schemes—dog walking for senior pups, house-sitting for the rich, selling pickles at the farmers’ market—she stumbles from one hilarious misadventure to the next.

Just when things start looking up, Betty gets a little too inspired by a news story about a terminally ill vigilante. Enter WinWin, her brilliant (or completely deranged) idea: an app that matches people with nothing to lose with targets the world might be better off without. Think Tinder meets vigilante justice. Investors love it. The media loses its mind. The government? Not so much.

As WinWin spirals from darkly clever startup to full-blown scandal, Betty faces a choice: keep pushing forward or pull the plug before everything implodes. Because getting rich is one thing—getting arrested is another.

Fast, funny, and a little twisted, Betty - WinWin is a story about reinvention, risk-taking, and just how far one woman will go to fix her financial mess.

The Counterattack

The following day, WinWin’s lawyers filed a motion to narrow the subpoena, mostly by arguing that “narrow” was a very flexible word. Meanwhile, the PR team launched a calculated media campaign, enlisting influencers, podcasters, and that one unhinged Reddit guy who always types in all caps. Social media lit up with posts about personal autonomy, corporate greed, and how, really, billionaires should fear for their lives more often. The hashtag #MyChoiceMyLegacy trended alongside #CEOSeason and #EatTheRichButMakeItEfficient.

That evening, Betty appeared on Prime News for a live interview with Victor Langley, a journalist so seasoned he could’ve been a charcuterie board.

“Ms. Greer,” Langley began, fixing her with his signature You’re-Gonna-Cry-Today look. “Critics argue that WinWin enables vigilante violence under the guise of personal autonomy. What’s your response?”

Betty leaned forward, radiating the confidence of a woman who had once convinced a Nordstrom clerk to refund a dress she bought in 1998. “My response is that we’re addressing something society has ignored for too long. People want agency in a system that denies them dignity. WinWin doesn’t create chaos—it creates accountability.”

Langley arched an eyebrow. “But isn’t it reckless? You’re dealing with people who have nothing to lose. Doesn’t that make your app inherently dangerous?”

Betty barely blinked. “Dangerous compared to what? Wall Street? The pharmaceutical industry? The NFL? Look, if we’re ranking ‘reckless decisions that end in untimely deaths,’ my app is at least fourth place.”

Langley exhaled sharply through his nose. Betty had won the first round.

The segment went viral. Her supporters called her a visionary. Her detractors called her a supervillain. The WinWin stock—which technically didn’t exist—saw a 300% spike in fake trading. A knockoff version of the app appeared in Eastern Europe within 24 hours.

Betty sipped her victory tea.