Plot & Pacing: How do we move beyond what we know and into true plot development? And, as for pacing, how do we know when our story is moving at the right speed? 

Task #1

By the Time You Read This...

Goal: To focus on the small things that can happen, plot-wise, and to open up your mind to possibilities. 

What to do: 1. Fix your mind on your main character (or one of your main characters) in a story you are writing or thinking about. 

2. Have the character sit down to write a letter to someone they are intimate with, who happens to be not close by at the moment. (It can be an email, if that helps you work, but make it be an email that on't be read for at least twenty-four hours, as an immediate reading of the email would destroy the point of the exercise.)

3. Begin the letter, "By the time you read this" and make a detailed list of all the things that will have happened by the time the intended recipient of the letter actually reads it. 

Task #2

Do your own research. What do the best writing minds have to say about Plot and Pacing? What are some ways to deal with it and address the nuances of plot and structure?