Pacing is simply the time you take to convey your information. If you do it at a slow, leisurely pace, you will create a much different emotional impact than you will if you follow the action crisply and closely.

The pacing will also depend on the kind of manuscript you're writing. As you'll see in Chapter 21, there are a variety of fiction and nonfiction markets. Depending on what you're writing, each type of story or book (and each type of scene) will carry with it different requirements when it comes to pacing. If you're setting up scenes, a slow pace is probably effective. As previously mentioned, in a high-action scene, you want events to unfold quickly to keep the reader at a high emotional level of involvement.