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38
Learn to pace your scene
openings for specifi c effects.
Take a look at these two scene openings:
Opening #1
We drove back to the cabin. I found the key under
the mat, as promised, and unlocked the door.
A musty smell hit me as I opened the door and
motioned Sarah to go in. Fortunately, the electric-
ity was on and I found the light switch.
I asked Sarah to sit on the couch, and she did.
“Now,” I said, “what is this thing that couldn’t wait?”
“I’m pregnant,” she said.
Opening #2
“I’m pregnant,” Sarah said.
“You’re what?”
She was sitting on the couch in the cabin, which,
fortunately, I’d been able to get into. It was cold and
musty, but I didn’t notice any of it. Not now.
Number two gives us the action fi rst, then the setting
information.
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If you want to create page-turning momentum, open
more of your scenes this way.
To slow things down for pacing, open more like the
fi rst way.
Just don’t wait too long to let the reader know why the
scene is here, and why it is important.
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