The Illusion of “Bad Pacing” | Why Your Writing Feels Off

Ooga booga

PATREON:

KO-FI:

[ginge]

Watch without audio and he looks like he's dropping the most well paced diss track the world has ever seen.

[holyflutterofgod]

As a film/tv editor, this completely rings true!! One of my favorite quotes from Walter Murch -- editor of Apocalypse Now -- is this:

“When you go to a doctor and tell him that you have a pain in your elbow, it is the quack who takes out his scalpel and starts to operate on the elbow. An experienced doctor studies you, takes an x-ray, and determines that the cause of the pain is probably a pinched nerve up in your shoulder—you just happen to feel it in your elbow. When you ask audiences “What was your least favorite scene?” and eighty percent of the people are in agreement about one scene they do not like, the impulse is to “fix” the scene or cut it out. But the chances are that that scene is fine. Instead, the problem may be that the audience simply didn’t understand something that they needed to know for the scene to work. So instead of fixing the scene itself, you might clarify some exposition five minutes earlier. The audience will never tell you directly where the source of the pain is, they’ll just tell you where they feel it, and you as the editor must suss out its source.”

[TheTrueReiniat]

the rebranding, I am gonna miss Alien Man.

[cantaskin]

I hadn't really written anything I was proud of up until I started watching these videos, and now I actually feel like I am making conscious decisions while writing stories, rather than just trying to use fancy words because I thought "that's what makes a good book". Your takes on storytelling are very refreshing and I hope you find the success you deserve, both in and beyond this YouTube channel.

[cristianpissai]

1:52 This kinda fits into a game dev adage: players are great at identifying problems, but horrible at coming up with solutions. And that is because, usually, they are wrong about what's causing the problem, so their solution doesn't fix the actual issue but the symptom as you put it. Great video!

[Densoro]

I think my iconic example of ‘rushed pacing’ comes from Netflix’s Castlevania.

The human twins go from, ‘You’re the best teacher ever, Alucard! We love you!’ to a murder plot because he told them _one time_ to study the basics before he’d teach them endgame shit.

Maybe things were cut for time, but the result felt like the writers only established, ‘Twins are upset’ before jumping straight to murder, rather than having a separate beat for, ‘Twins are upset, ’ ‘Twins become mistrustful, ’ ‘Twins feel betrayed, ’ and finally, ‘Twins don’t see any way to fix this besides murder.’

Flicking a single domino off the table isn’t as satisfying as watching the whole chain fall.

[repli]

You put my feelings into words, as someone who hardly gets bored watching stuff, it took me a while to realize what people meant by "The pacing is too slow", I've lately been seeing it as people saying "I don't find anything interesting happening on screen"

[nathantowns]

I don't write (words) but I actually love the discussion of "translating non-experts' critiques" because people who don't know music won't give you coherent feedback, you have to deduce what they really mean. I'm sure it's likewise with any artform

[NorthernRealmJackal]

I really like the part where the hypothetical critic don't have the sufficient tools to nail the diagnosis. You will not believe how prevailant this issue is in interaction- and game design. This is why we observe before we ask (fortunately we have a physical interaction to scrutinize, and don't have to rely on self-report). This also means we have to wrangle well-meaning technical team members who aren't used to this distinction, and assumes everyone's vocabulary is sufficient to pinpoint problems about an interaction that is 90% emotional, intuitive and invisible.

[BuizelCream]

I remember when Across the Spiderverse came out and there were people complaining about some of its scenes being too long and it has pacing problems and stuff. This tip really solidifies that yes, sometimes despite what the audience says, it's too bad for them.
When I saw Across the Spiderverse, I think it's "pacing is just right" only because I can discern that every dialogue, every beat, every moment serves the narrative and a bigger picture down to the intricate details of who the characters are and their purpose in the story. (The scene about Gwen and Miles, Miles and his mother, the rooftop party, the scenes of Miguel meeting Miles, etc.)

But on the other hand, I like this tip because the "pacing problems" can be boiled down to scenes not being efficiently utilized to maximize its impact. Often when the audience complain about this, it is either something about the story made them feel bored (lacking character richness or weak plot moment), or a beat was rushed too fast (underutilized scenes wrapped up too quickly without needed depth).

[Jaycopperwire]

Pacing was always one of my biggest problems to handle just because it seemed so elusive as a concept and I couldn't really grasp how to fix it. Now knowing that it itself is not the problem but just a symptom is so much more productive for fixing things since I can look "around" issues of pacing instead of getting tunnel visioned on it.

[boywifemoder]

i completely stand by your decision as an artist to pace this video in this exact way, especially those last 30 secs or so

[HoloTheDrunk]

It's very funny how seemingly worlds apart things like software development and writing have a huge amount in common when it comes to interacting with "clients" lol. Translating the user lexicon to usable feedback is a challenge in every creative process

[iamluyu]

Finally someone who says it out loud!!! I'm so tired of hearing all these 'expert writers' on YT who instantly urge you to change your whole manuscript just because a proofreader got bored with your text.
Especially in these times, when every piece of media feels rushed, copied or even too superficial, I think it's crucial to let the artists mind establish new ways of storytelling. If a writer enfasizes a particular scene, even if it's the most common scenario instead of the (already cliche) most epic battle in the plot, let it be. The writer has a REASON.

[RelativelyBest]

What's this? Writing advice that is actually _insightful_ and encourages you to _think_ about what you're doing rather than just regurgitating generalized platitudes and arbitrary "rules"? A rare treat indeed!

[HoplooWare]

The criticism of tone being a symptom of storytelling issues rather than the disease is spot on actually. I've never really liked the criticism of having an "inconsistent tone" when referring to a srory having contrasting elements/characters/etc. (For example, a funny character in a 'serious' story), and now I think I can understand why. For it to be an actual criticism would mean that you can't use the clashing of "tones" to flesh out your story and its elements, create a unique aesthetic, or a whole host of other uses for having contrasting elements.

Having jokes in a "serious movie" is not by itself a bad thing. It's a bad thing when, say, the heavy hand of the writer forces a character to make a joke in a situation where they otherwise probably would not.

[lordjalor]

Top tier advice as always of course.

I just want to say, the idea of you just talking while the old windows screensaver plays in the literal bg of the video through a projector is quite the cool trick for engaging short attention spans. If it was just you speaking I can definitely see this video feeling slow but the screensaver playing at that speed really draws the eye. Idk if it was intentional on you're part but points for the choice from a presentation perspective *tips hat*

[BroSanti]

For me, sometimes I read my writing and just rush through it. Everything happens so fast and it’s all dumb and there is no development and blah blah blah. But once I start reading as the audience, and not as myself, it comes across more like I want it to. Idk just a thought.

[adrianolmedos]

This is probably my favourite writing advice channel right now. This is the only one I've seen with actual nuance and care put into it's advice. You won me over when you mentioned a MASSIVELY important point every single other writing advice channel seems to skip every single time: do not give in your vision as an author to the short attention spans of viewers.

Artistic intent above all! Subbed.

[NightspeakerR]

Hello LocalScriptMan, if you read this then may I say that I'm glad that you caught my eye to your channel and which you have grown into making these incredible videos that help writers, storytellers, and many people within this world making stories that build up creativity within the minds of people.

Right now I am making a personal project which hopefully within 3-4 years I can present the story on YT and then expand it to promote and maybe release it as a series. However, this requires skills that need to be taught or learned by hand, that is secondly why I came to write this as you're one of bunch of helpful people when it comes to writing and especially to making characters.

Hopefully and if not you haven't seen this comment, thank you for contributing to helping people like me to make stories and bringing them to light in our own ways!