The Other Mrs.

Pacing in literature means the rate at which the story unfolds for the reader. It does not necessarily mean the speed at which a story is told but rather how long it takes a writer to describe or present an event or action in the story. While all types of fiction have moments when the plot speeds up and others when it is restrained, plot-driven horror and thrillers tend to have a faster pace than something like historical drama. There are several reasons to speed up or slow down the pace of a story. For example, an author will slow the pace to create emotion or suspense and speed the pace up to create anticipation, action, or tension. General elements of pacing include plot, diction, syntax, dialogue, and genre.

Kubica is an expert in controlling the pacing in her novels, using a familiar and successful formula in her psychological thrillers. One of the ways she controls the pacing is by having multiple narrative voices that present their stories in smaller fragments. One voice interrupts another, causing a delay in action or the revelation of information about a character. This slows down the pace of the story and increases interest and tension, as the reader must wait to find out what happens next.

Another common technique used by Kubica to delay the reader’s satisfaction is using cliffhangers, unresolved issues that often happen at the end of a chapter. These were commonly used in the 1800s when longer works of literature were published as installments or serially in newspapers and magazines. To get readers hooked and ensure they would buy the next edition, writers would end chapters with a cliffhanger that would not be resolved until the next chapter. This happens in many places in The Other Mrs., notably in Mouse’s later entries. It takes several entries for her to leave her room and go to the kitchen for some cookies and milk, and these entries are interrupted by other characters’ narratives. The tension is heightened through the use of foreshadowing, hints that something bad is going to happen to her.

Several of Mouse’s entries begin in medias res or in the middle of the action, another technique that creates a sense of urgency. This is then slowed down as a writer provides context or background information, sometimes in the form of flashbacks, another technique that slows the pace down or highlights something important. Because most of the narrative sections from Camille and Mouse are flashbacks, they help Kubica to control the pacing of her text. While thrillers do tend to have a faster pace than other types of writing, writers vary the pacing to increase tension and suspense and to allow the reader time to process information. A story that is relentlessly fast-paced can fail just as easily as one that is painfully slow.