Think of pacing like a musical composition — it’s all about emotional tempo. To create the rhythm of a piece of writing, an experienced author must use all the techniques at their disposal, reeling in their readers at just the right moments. Here are ten tips for pacing your horror. Let me know if you use any of these techniques or – if you’re a reader – which techniques you appreciate as a reader, and which you could do without! Fellow authors, do you use any of these approaches? Or do you have any other tips to share?

Pacing Cheat Sheet

• Long sentences, long paragraphs, exposition, backstory, flashbacks = slow pacing (slow isn’t always bad, but know when to use it)

• Short, punchy sentences, action verbs (running, screaming, scrambling, punching, kicking) = fast pacing (don’t overdo the fast scenes either, or it will lose its impact)

Right. That’s a good start. But you’ll need to do more than just vary the sentence length if you want to keep up the perfect pace and create the right atmosphere for your story. So, without further ado, here are my Top Ten Tips For Pacing In Horror.

1. Good pacing doesn’t mean fast pacing.

Good pacing means using rhythm. Sometimes you may wish to slow things down. Other times, you may wish to speed things up. Play with rhythm: long sentences build atmosphere, short ones deliver punch.

2. Use An Outline

Well-paced writing, especially long-form fiction like novels, requires good planning. There are plenty of writers who will tell you otherwise, so this tip is really just one approach, but I do believe that a good horror story uses proper structure in order to properly space out the plot points and story beats, and working with an outline makes that a lot more straight-forward.

3. Use Humour

Writing horror and dark fantasy doesn’t always mean doom and gloom all the time. Use levity to create a shift in the mood and a sense of dynamics. This can also get your reader to drop their guard so the scary stuff catches them by surprise.

4. Zoom in on small details

Slow the pacing by slowing perception. Focus on sensory input: a creak, a smell, a shift in light. Show what the character notices — or what they miss. When you want to slow time, narrow the scope.

5. Raise the stakes

What makes your character stay long enough to investigate the thing that’s frightening them, when they should probably just run away? Give them a good motivation. Later, build on this motivation by giving it new meaning or greater significance. Make it personal.

6. Pace According To Character’s State Of Mind

Reflect the character’s state of mind, allowing your pacing to match your character’s emotions. Frantic character = frantic pacing. Character living in constant, lingering fear = slower pacing.

7. Use Structure To Your Advantage

For example, use the white space in your manuscript to create breaths and hold tension the way a composer uses rest notes in the music. Paragraph and chapter breaks as cliffhangers to make your readers hold their breath or brace for impact. If you’re using multiple POV’s, you can make your readers wait entire paragraphs before revealing what happens after the cliffhanger. It might seem cheap or cruel, but it’s effective.

8. Put Your Characters Through Hell

Readers hate to see characters suffer, but writers love torturing our characters (or so I’ve been told by many other authors). But maybe, deep down, the readers secretly love it too. After all, we’re talking about writing horror and dark fantasy.

So don’t be afraid to really torture your characters, especially the ones your readers will like best. Be bold. Kill the fan favourites.

Why? Again, it’s horror, so why not?

But seriously, there’s a reason you might consider this technique. It’s not just for fun; it’s a reminder of what’s at stake. By killing an important character, your reader will know that no one is off limits, that anything can happen, and that the monster in this story isn’t just playing around.

By putting your character through hell, a happy ending is going to feel more earned than if they achieved it easily. Speaking of happy endings, in horror and dark fantasy, happy is a relative term.

9. Use “scene and sequel” structure

In simple terms, a “scene” focuses on the action: your character is working toward a goal, facing a conflict or a setback. The “sequel” is what follows the scene and allows the character to think about and/or react to the events of the scene, think about the situation, and make a decision about their next course of action, which is what leads your reader into the following scene.

This approach creates structure and a sense of pacing and gives your character agency within the story.

10. Start with a Hook

In horror, you really want to open with a bang if you want to really build a sense of atmosphere. A good hook will create the atmosphere (hooks prepare the reader for the chills that are yet to come). This can make your readers feel the sense of danger that sets the tone for what’s to come. The whole point is to instil a sense of dread early in order to hook the readers, who know that something terrible is going to happen.

Bonus Tip: Make It Twisty

Making your readers think one thing, only to pull the rug out from under them when you reveal that not all is as it seems is an effective way to create both a sense of discomfort as well as a sense that something big has just happened. Something that changes the way we view everything else that’s already happened.

This can help to alleviate reader boredom. If things were dragging along, all of a sudden things are getting interesting again. Something BIG has just happened.

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If you’d like to learn more, I’ll be running a course on Creating Atmosphere in Horror and Dark Fantasy. Pacing is just one essential part of creating atmosphere. Want to join me? Sign up at:

https://www.alexandrawriters.org/store/p759/creating-atmosphere-in-dark-fantasy-and-horror.html