Pacing your book

The deeper I get into these revisions, the more I realize that I had absolutely no concept of pacing. I would “wing it” to figure out when the first kiss would happen, when the first love scene would happen, etc. etc. Basically wherever it felt right, I’d go for it.

Now, I’m discovering that my instincts were way off. I resolved issues far too soon. I had no idea that romantic tension had to last pretty much until the last page. Hoo boy. Lots of rewriting.

I think writing emotional tension is, quite possibly, the hardest writing in the universe. You can’t tell your audience what the characters are feeling…you have to show it through their actions, through their internal thoughts, and it has to ring true. Give me an action scene any day. Much easier!

In other news, the “parents” are back in action. Yes, now that I’ve given a few quizzes and my first test, the excuses are coming from every direction. :loser: “We just moved here and she’s having adjustment issues.” “He lost his study guide.” “He/she didn’t know he had a test.” It’s funny how parents feel the need to speak on behalf of their kids. Many want to know when the retest will be. Uh…never? With 120 students, that ain’t happening. I have 31 kids in my fifth period class. Keeping up with basic communication is tricky enough, much less grading the papers. A lot of parents aren’t accustomed to middle school where their child is one of many. They seem to believe that teachers have the time to sign every agenda, call whenever they don’t do an assignment (excuse me while I laugh hysterically at that one):rotfl:, and drop everything for a conference.

The parents who I LOVE are the ones who say a simple, “Thanks for letting me know about the bad test. We’ll work on it.” Great! That’s all I want. No excuses, just–we’ll fix the problem. And it’s even better when they do. Love that.

My favorite feeling in the world is when you have a student who has bombed a quiz, but pulls it together and aces the test. That happened yesterday. A little girl got F’s on both her geography quizzes and then studied hard and earned a 98 on the test. I just want to give her a high five. :wave:

Anyway, enough rambling. Just wanted to say sorry to those who have visited my blog and I haven’t yet returned the favor. I’m working on that. :help: But I usually save my visits as a reward for finishing more revisions. If I haven’t visited you lately, I’ll be there soon! Promise!