The Rules of Writing Yandere

13] Shall We Take it Slow...?

Soooo.... pacing... um...

Okay, here's the thing about pacing.. it's apart of an author's style and should allow for clear exposition. However, it isn't just the exposition that should be clear to the reader. A Yandere that spends twenty chapters out of a thirty chapter story just "becoming" a Yandere is going to bore and rightfully irritate a reader.

When you are in the brainstorming stage, you need to have an idea of what the characters and setting will be like. It doesn't matter what the endgame is, just lay down the foundation first. Backstory is so very important, but so is the story you're trying to tell. Decide what should be critical enough to happen during the book and what happened before that gets a few mentions throughout.

Don't rush things, but don't coddle the audience with heavily explained baby steps.

Yes, we get it. "Oh, I have a troubled childhood and now I'm mentally unstable to the point where I will literally anyone that tries to take away the only person that understands me." Or whatever it is.

For example, let's talk about grass.

1) The crisp green grass crunched beneath her feet as she tiptoed towards her prey, alarming the others of her presence.

2) The countless blades of crisp, dew touched grass that were as sparkling and pristine as emeralds with even such similar a hue of green to their existence gave way beneath her heavy feet. Sounds arose as her shoes came into harsh contact with the foliage, loud and distinct. The other women whom she preyed upon glanced up, their curious expressions aimed directly at her crazed existence. She had been caught.

WE FUCKING GET IT. THE GRASS IS GREEN AND CRUNCHY. DAMN THOT WAS SEEN. You do not need to over complicate things just to make it longer, okay?

Let's assume you're writing a thirty chapter story, okay? Fifteen to twenty of those absolutely should not entirely be exposition or setting up the backstory. Five to seven should, that way we can get a clear idea of what happened to this person that made them so fucking unhinged but not to the point where we are beaten over the head with "my parents are dead and my bunny was kidnapped by the neighbours' uncle's iguana when I was two weeks shy of turning a day old, so now I skin people that touch my bae."

Don't pull a gods be damned Washington Irving and take five pages to describe how the wind blows.

Your readers are smart, let them know you know.