My now fiance and I frequently read to one another (see previous posts), and one of the things I frequently comment to her on is the tempo of the story. We attempted to read a book by Connie Wills called Blackout regarding time travelers in the future and their attempts to curb problems with history in the past while not interfering in the general course of events. Sounds cool right? Who wouldn’t want to write objective history, watching it as it’s happening and guiding some other events for the future without any negative bias from writers of the time? We didn’t finish it.
The tempo was rough. I wouldn’t go so far to say it was a rubbish book. It’s a Pulitzer prize winner so it must be at least decent, and we may try to read it all the way through later. The fact of the matter is, one shouldn’t waste time reading books that are either: no good, not your style, or that have poor tempo. I’m going to give Ms. Willis the benefit of the doubt and say that it was a bad time for my fiance and myself to read this particular book.
Story tempo can ruin a book. I read pretty fast, but my comprehension is also very good I think. My fiance says I read very fast and she’s impressed by that fact. But one shouldn’t feel bad if they read slow, it just means that you are enjoying it, or that your comprehension is different/slower than other people. Does this affect your ability to enjoy what you’re reading if you’re faster or slower? That’s all that really matters.
Personal tempo is one thing, but all stories have tempos too, and Ms. Willis’ book may be at fault for having a slow story. Again, I will give her the benefit of the doubt because I haven’t gotten through it yet. I am currently enjoying Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley and his tempo is steady, almost rhythmic, and quite enjoyable. The tempo is also dictated largely by the story itself and how cohesively its told, but sometimes a story is just stinkin’ slow.
This is definitely a writer’s goal: to make a story cohesive and with a good tempo for the audience. It can make or break a story (unless you’re Dickens I suppose).
What do you need to know as a reader? That’s all the really matters, right? Well, my suggestion (which was a learned behavior) is to read the first couple chapters and see if you can find the tempo of the story. Once you learn the tempo you should easily fall into that groove and be able to glean the same from the story and enjoy it just as much while at the same time making better progress. Regardless of whether you’re a fast or slow reader, finding the tempo will help with the comprehension, which will in turn help the story progress faster. It’s like cars going down the road. A car at 40 miles an hour on a flat road will make better progress than a car going 60 on a road with speed bumps or ruts which make the driver slow down. Mind the gap and find your tempo.