Serving tapas: Delivering in bite-size chunks

In this lesson, we'll delve into the art of presenting your prose in manageable portions, enhancing your readers' experience and ability to engage. It's a concept I've created over the years and something I try to stick to in both my fiction and non-fiction writing. I also call it serving cupcakes: depending on if I'm in the mood for sweet or savoury.

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Why Serve Tapas?

• In a speech or presentation, moments of silence allow listeners to digest information and maintain their attention. These pauses are crucial for keeping people engaged with what more you have to say.
• In writing, achieving these moments of silence is more challenging, as you have less control over the reader's pace. However, there are structural and grammatical techniques to create pauses and serve your story in more digestible portions.
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Using punctuation to pause

• Full stops (periods): These not only end sentences but also set longer pauses. Short sentences with full stops increase reading pace, while longer sentences with full stops lead to longer pauses.
• Commas: Commas add slight pauses within sentences, ensuring sentence context makes sense.
• Ellipsis (...): The ellipsis can dramatically serve silence but should be used sparingly to avoid disrupting the reader's flow.

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Structural techniques for serving tapas

• Paragraphing: Similar to a web design's white space (also known as negative space) paragraphs visually break up your prose, making it easier to consume and providing natural pauses. Don't hesitate to use paragraphing for dramatic effect.
• The Dinkus: These symbols placed between paragraphs suggest the passing of time to the reader without explicit narration. Use them thoughtfully, as they can become less effective if overused. It can look like this:
  
  • Page and chapter breaks: These are highly effective for delivering your story in chunks. Page and chapter breaks provide readers with opportunities to pause, reflect, and decide whether to continue. They work best when strategically placed at the end of dramatic moments or plot twists.
  • Structural line strategy: Start with short, sharp sentences at the beginning of your book to hook readers. Gradually introduce longer sentences. In chapters, try to provide more breathing space at the beginning to ease readers into your world, and save page and chapter breaks for when they need time to digest or after an enticing development. Let that heart rate slow for a moment!

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Mastering these techniques, whether through grammar or structural choices, allows you to serve your story in bite-sized portions at precisely the right moments. When done correctly, this approach creates a story that readers can savor and remember long into the future.That's a wrap, see you in the next lesson!