So I finally set down to read Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray
This is the author's first novel, and I think she did two things especially well. Both of them involve pacing.
One is fantastic chapter endings and beginnings that pull you in and keep you reading.
- They took me in my nightgown. (first sentence)
- He threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot. [paragraph break] We were about to become cigarettes. (last sentences of first chapter)
- It was the last time I would look into a real mirror for more than a decade (last sentence of chapter three)
- As soon as the umbilical cord was cut, they would both be thrown into the truck. (last sentence of chapter four)
- The child let out a soft cry and its tiny fists pummeled the air. Its fight for life had begun. (last sentences of chapter five)
- Have you ever wondered what a human life is wroth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch. (last sentences of chapter seven)
The second is extremely short chapters. The first seven chapters take only 23 pages. The author breaks up some scenes into many chapters. I found this encouraged me to read on and on. Heck, a chapter could be read in just a few minutes, if not less. Talk about a page turner!
I'm going to be trying to apply both these lessons to my own writing.