Controlling Time and Pacing in Creative Writing

Miacademy & MiaPrep Learning Channel

This engaging video lesson explores the concept of "pacing" in creative writing, teaching students how authors manipulate time to influence a reader's experience. Using a thematic hook of escaping a room with a ticking clock, the presenter draws an analogy between film direction and writing, explaining that while time in real life is constant, writers have the unique power to speed up or slow down time within a story. The video defines pacing as the speed and flow of a story's events and demonstrates how different paces create different emotional impacts—excitement and suspense versus reflection and character development. The lesson breaks down specific, actionable strategies for controlling pacing. For fast-paced scenes, students learn the "less is more" approach: using short sentences, fragments, rapid dialogue, and minimal description to create urgency. Conversely, for slow-paced scenes, the "more is more" strategy is introduced: utilizing longer sentences, extended dialogue, and rich, sensory details to encourage readers to linger. The video uses excerpts from *A Wrinkle in Time* as mentor texts to illustrate these concepts in practice. This resource is highly valuable for English Language Arts classrooms, specifically for creative writing units and literary analysis. It moves beyond abstract definitions to provide concrete tools students can use during the revision process. By understanding how sentence structure and detail affect mood, students can make intentional choices to keep their readers engaged, whether they are crafting an action-packed climax or an emotional character moment.