Four-part pacing

These are notes I took from a wonderful writing symposium called Life, the Universe, and Everything. We have a lot of talented people in Utah and visitors with a great deal of knowledge. Any Misinformation is the fault of the note taker.
I don’t recall the real name of the panel.

– Plotting is what is happening.
– 90% of movies follow four-part pacing process.
– If you don’t have the right thing happen at the book at the right time your book you usually don’t work.

First quarter:
– Start with what you know
– Divide your story into meaningful charter
– Each quarter should accomplish a task and have a turning point.
– Plant seeds, introduce the main characters. Ends when the journey ends.
– Readers will know what the story is about.
– On middle-grade fiction, you need to grab the reader in the first chapter.
– The Buffy TV series, notice the beginning of the last episode of the first season. Vampire lord comes to power. Buffy beginning trying to get dates for the prom. If you make something important to the characters your readers will be engaged.
– Need a conflict that will pull the readers into the story that is not the main conflict. That conflict will start in the first quarter. The real problem is introduced into the second quarter.
– Plant seeds to prepare the reader.
– How do you plant seeds and not have the reader something?
– There are a lot of kinds of seeds to plant. Your reading pays attention to something or not pay attention to something. I.e.: two characters sitting at a table. Waiter limps and smells bad. And the waiter fills the glasses a lot.
– The seeds are being landed now so they can be harvested later.
– If you introduce a main character later, find a way to introduce them later and it won’t be a surprise.
– Don’t introduce a bunch of characters all at once.
– 90% of readers will stop reading a book in the first quarter.
– Second-fourth had a major milestone that starts the quest.
– In Tangled it opens with: this is the story about how I died. Girl paints stars on wall.
– The Goonies: first quarter ends want to save their family. The story begins at a tunnel.

Second quarter
– Start opposing characters on their path. Usually starts on the wrong path.
– Characters need to be active.
– Ends when characters discovering the true path.
– It is usually a false path.
– The second quarter you’ve got mail. 2n’t quarters is about her keep her book store open but at the end of the quarter, the book store closes.
– In Tangled, Flying rider wants to scare her so she will give him the crown. Flying rider is being blackmailed by Rapunzel.
– Your characters have to be trying to accomplish their goals.
– It is a series of proactive failures they are doing actions but are unsuccessful. We are rooting for the characters to succeed.
– This is the most important part of the book.
– In You’ve got mail, Meg Ryan learns that the tom is trying to close her store.

Third quarter.
– It is the heart of the story
– It is where the character learns.
– Sets them on their true quest.
– Set up for the climax.
– Set characters on a true quest.
– This is where the major obstacles happen.
– The bigger the obstacle the more we help.
– The most powerful obstacles should not be a monster > should be a belief that your main character has that has to crack for them to succeed
– In Hunger Games, she sees that Rue is trying to save her when she was previously only thought of winning. She recognizes it is the capital that is bad.
– There has to be a ticking clock to push the story to completion.
– What does our character learn?
– Tanged the two see they have trust issues.
– Flying Rider and Rapunzel overcome their trust issues and fall in love. Rapunzel sees that the witch is not her mother.
– The Goonies: they are going to get the treasures.

Four quarter:
– Begin major revelations
– Extremely high tension
– False success
– Exciting climax
– Lessons learned.
– Character reflections at the 3 quarters point and get a big reveal.
– No one can put down the book
– The fourth quarter you will not go to the bathroom
– Extremely high chances. In the movie Matrix, agents have located them. Crates attacking the ship and girl tell him she loves him.
– Characters try and fail. Flynn rider dies and Rapunzel’s hair is cut.
– This is the most important part of the book. There are three possible responses from your reader. A. it was terrible b. good book c. throw it across the room and wonder when the next one will be available. Throw the book across the room and they ask when the next book is coming out.
– Wrap up: what did the character learn?