Screenwriting : Inconsistent Momentum by Richard G Hector

The question is broad in general but a script tends to pick up speed as it moves into the second act, and especially into the third act. Dialogue becomes sparse and the pace picks up. This is especially true for an action script in which you're taking your audience on a thrill ride. Nobody expects the big roller coaster to go slower unless it is climbing a very steep hill, an incline the audience is well aware of and anticipates. Momentum is a delicate thing. Once you build momentum it's hard to slam on the brakes and ramp back up to speed. You don't want to lose your audience. You can tease them, you can hold them in suspense, but it's both time and page consuming to recapture a high degree of excitement.

Yeah, I'm a fan of Blake Snyder's Save the Cat. I like to take everyone's evaluation to heart and try to see where they are coming from. And if I don't agree after several days of thinking about it, I ignore it. As for the transition, I believe is logical and smooth. The questionable pacing was in the 2nd act, while the 3rd act is fast pacing throughout. ... Thanks for the comments.

I think if a film maintains one pace for too long it becomes boring. But then if the pacing is too predictable (fast then slow then fast then slow) that's not great either. Our project had several actors and the pacing was random, to keep the audience on their toes. http://www.cinecoup.com/theories/

Is your pacing organic to the story? Don't try and fit your story into a rule or a formula, but allow the rules to be followed and to be broken by the story. For instanced, "Stand By Me" has a pace that fits its coming-of-age story, while "Road Warrior" is all rock-n-roll. Do you have a writer's group? If so, get their opinion, and if several people mention a problem with the pace, or anything else, then you know it needs to be fixed.

Second Act Lag is a traditional problem. The question is, what makes a second act stronger?

Is the pacing generated by what's going on with the characters?

Pace in the heartbeat of your story... so you want a regular heartbeat and not too much time between heartbeats. I look at pacing in my Action Screenwriting Book, but years ago when I wrote an article for Script Magazine on pacing I decided to use romantic comedies since that's not my genre and doesn't seem as if it would have the same pacing as action and thriller films. Surprise! I discovered that they had that Joel Silver "Whammo every ten pages" pacing that action films have! (An expanded version of that article is in my Act 2 Blue Book ebook.) So one issue might be slow pacing... not enough exciting stuff happening. Or irregular pacing (just like an irregular heartbeat). There will always be peaks and valleys, but the valleys in your "action" story are peaks in whatever your B story is (romance, mystery, etc). So within a ten minute segment you will have an action scene... and what isn't the action scene will be an exciting scene where they try to figure out the mystery of why the aliens are attacking or how to bring down their ship or maybe the romance issues between the hero and the pretty 2nd in command who are not supposed to be sleeping with each other... A story valley is B story peak. That way it's always exciting, just not exciting in the same way.

I will often pull out the second act (middle 50-60 pages) and just read/work on it by itself, setting aside Acts I and III for a while. It's easier for me to focus on making it interesting and to keep the pace going. Separating it helps focus the story on character journey and themes. It's surprising to me how often I think that it's all there, then when I separate those pages I find the holes. Putting it back together with the "bookend" acts usually ends up as a stronger script for me.

That's interesting Annika, I should try that.

Coverage/notes of your film is not meant to hurt your feelings, it's intended to spot weak points and try to offer ways to make the script better. To assume this kind of feedback is not important or formula driven is a mistake. but make sure you get coverage from a reputable source, someone who has recognition in the industry. Coverage notes can be very beneficial in giving you a professional take on your work by someone who is not emotionally invested in the project as the writer is. As well coverage notes are usually requested by investors at some point.

Why would you ignore feedback? If three people tell you the same thing is wrong with your script, I think it's something to consider. How many opportunities will one get to sit down with someone who cares about their screenplay? I would actually say do the opposite. Find PEOPLE who don't give a damn about your work so they're as critical as possible. You want an unbiased eye on your scripts. The thing is, you have to get more than one person to view your script before you change anything significant in your story. Reputable or not, one person's opinion is just that. Steven Spielberg may hate your idea but Christopher Nolan may love it. At the end of the day, you definitely need unbiased feedback.

Thoughts on Pacing and Sci-fi Scripts: Most sci-fi stories are going to have a sub-genre. Action sci-fi (Independence Day), horror sci-fi (Alien), drama sci-fi (Millennium Man), etc. The pacing will probably follow along with the sub-genre more than anything else. A mystery with robots is still a mystery, and a monster on a space station slowly picking people off is still a horror film.