Writers have an awesome power over the reader. A skilled writer can create good or bad attitudes, love and hate, passion, fear, depression, regret, joy, sorrow, and the list goes on. If you read much, you have found this to be true. That is but one way the author controls the reader.

Another way he controls the reader is through the speed of reading. Have you noticed that you read faster in some places and slower in others? Have you noticed that one story makes you tired to read it, while another seems restful? That’s because the writer is using clever wordsmithing.

In essence, the author has you in the palm of his hand. He wants you to read faster during action scenes to get you involved – to make you feel the presence of danger, fear or love. In other areas, the reading will slow down to allow your mind to rest and digest the action. As a reader, you become ensnared both emotionally and psychologically. If the action didn’t slow down, it would wear you out.

Here are two sentences from two different scenes in my story, There’s the Somebody I will Kill. The first sentence is fast, the second is slow. Analyze them and determine what speeds up one sentence and what slows down another – then read on.

"We bounced up the stairs two at a time, slipped into my bedroom unnoticed, and closed the door without making a sound."

"Katy wrinkled her nose."

The first sentence is fast because it has alliteration, and also because of the action "bounced up the stairs two at a time". Alliteration usually makes a sentence flow faster. (Alliteration is the succeeding sound of the same letter, or sounds that appear to be the same letter): Note the words "bounced", "stairs", "slipped", "unnoticed", "closed" and "sound". All have the S sound. Also notice the T alliteration in "stairs", "two", "at", "time", "into", and "unnoticed". (Note: The words "bounced" and "slipped" have a T sound in the -ed, but no T is there.) This is double alliteration, and it increases the speed even more.

The second sentence, "Katy wrinkled her nose," is slow because it is a non-action sentence and it has no alliteration, no assonance and no consonance. (Assonance and consonance is a separate study.) That short sentence does three things: it allows the reader’s mind to rest, it expresses attitude, and it expresses imagery.

Another way to speed up a scene is with action verbs, such as: "The roller coaster zipped and whirled at lightening speed." A good way to slow sentences down is by combining the use of Ws and Ls. Example: (I’ll capitalize the letters in the "slow" words.) "A Little Lady Watched from the croWd, and gLanced momentariLy at her Watch." Note the four Ls in that sentence and the three Ws. Note: Another interesting thing about that sentence is that it carries double alliteration, but notice that the Ws and Ls slow the Sentence.

A third way to slow the action of a scene is by your choice of words:

(1) Marilyn lingered at the well, slowly twisting the ring on her finger.
(2) The sun sank slowly beneath golden blankets of clouds.

Sentence one is a droopy sentence – very, very slow. Sentence two has alliteration in it, but the speed is overcome by the L sounds and the choice of words. Remember this: Even alliteration will not speed up slow words. Start analyzing sentences and note their structure and speed.

Remember the days of horror movies when your heart beat out of your chest? There’s another instance where the writer controlled you, and he’s still doing it. For instance, compare Little House on the Prairie to the Terminator. One program is soothing and warm. The other takes you into the realm of fantasy.

Whatever your pleasure is, you like it because the content stirs your inner soul. When you write your own blogs, articles or stories, this is the skill you must learn.

Part I of your assignment, should you choose to do it (for your own practice): Write a 500 word article or story and use what you have learned about speeding or slowing the reader. Part II of your assignment: let one person read it.