Pacing & Scene Rhythm: How to Control the Speed of Your Script
On Demand

Pacing & Scene Rhythm: How to Control the Speed of Your Script

Taught by AZ Yeamen
$49.00
AZ Yeamen
Taught by
AZ Yeamen
Story Editor, Covenant on AMC's ALLBLK, Executive Director & Founder Bridge 17

Summary

Learn pacing from a writer who's sold nearly every script she's ever written and doctored stories for Netflix, TVOne, and Bounce TV

 

Walk away with a downloadable Story Pacing Guide to map plot, character, and tension pacing onto your own script!

 

PLEASE NOTE: This exclusive Stage 32 webinar is now available to watch on-demand and no longer live.

 

Every screenplay lives or dies on rhythm. You can have unforgettable characters, a great concept, and sharp dialogue—but if your pacing isn't working, readers will lose interest before they ever experience what makes your story special. The good news? Pacing is a skill you can learn. Once you understand how to control the emotional experience of your audience from page one to the final scene, you'll write scripts that keep readers, executives, producers, and audiences fully engaged.

 

The challenge is that most writers were never taught pacing as a craft. Instead, you've probably heard rules like "your inciting incident belongs on page ten" or "your midpoint should land on page fifty-five." While structure matters, those formulas alone won't create a script that feels impossible to put down. Professional writers know how to control when to accelerate the story, when to let emotional moments breathe, and when to increase tension so every scene earns its place. That's what transforms a technically correct screenplay into one people can't stop reading.

 

That's why we're excited to bring you this exclusive Stage 32 webinar with AZ Yeamen. AZ has sold nearly every script she's written and has become a trusted writer for revisions, script doctoring, and pitch packages for networks including Netflix, TVOne, Aspire TV, UMC Streaming, and Bounce TV. Most recently, she served as Story Editor on Covenant for AMC's ALLBLK. Just as importantly, she's helped writers go from a promising idea to a polished, sellable screenplay, giving her firsthand insight into the pacing mistakes that hold scripts back—and the techniques that make them stand out.

 

During this exclusive webinar, AZ will break down the three pacing techniques professional writers rely on to keep audiences hooked. You'll learn how to use plot-driven pacing to maintain momentum and raise the stakes, character-driven pacing to create emotional investment without slowing your story, and tension-driven pacing to build suspense through reveals, reversals, and anticipation. You'll also receive a downloadable Story Pacing Guide, a practical blueprint you can immediately apply to your own screenplay, along with an exercise for analyzing a comparable film so you can recognize these techniques in action. 

 

If you've ever received feedback that your script "drags," "feels rushed," or "loses momentum," this webinar will show you exactly how to fix it—and give you the tools to keep readers turning pages until the very end!

 

PLUS, you'll receive:

  • A downloadable Story Pacing Guide to help you map plot, character, and tension pacing onto your own script
  • A practical Story Pacing Blueprint you can use to strengthen your screenplay scene by scene
  • A film analysis exercise that shows you how to identify professional pacing techniques in a successful comparable film

What You'll Learn

Understanding Story Pacing 

  • What pacing is and what it isn't 
  • Why pacing is about emotional momentum, not page count 
  • How pacing shapes the reader's experience

Plot-Driven Pacing 

  • Keeping the story moving through action and decisions 
  • Escalating conflict and raising the stakes 
  • Identifying scenes that slow momentum 

Character-Driven Pacing 

  • How character choices create story movement 
  • Balancing emotional moments with forward momentum 
  • Using internal conflict to strengthen pacing 

Tension-Driven Pacing 

  • Building suspense through reveals and withheld information 
  • Creating anticipation with conflict and uncertainty 
  • Using dramatic irony and reversals to keep audiences engaged Applying the Techniques 
  • Choosing the right pacing style for each sequence 
  • Balancing all three pacing techniques in one screenplay 
  • Analyzing a comparable film to identify pacing patterns 
  • Creating a pacing blueprint for your own script 

Q&A with AZ

 

Who Should Attend

  • Screenwriters of all levels who want to keep readers and executives engaged from the first page to the last
  • Television writers who want to build stronger momentum across acts and episodes without relying on page-count formulas
  • Writers who've gotten notes that their script feels "slow" or "rushed" and want concrete tools to fix pacing
  • Novelists and prose writers who want to apply professional pacing techniques to strengthen their storytelling

Executive

AZ Yeamen
AZ Yeamen
Story Editor, Covenant on AMC's ALLBLK, Executive Director & Founder Bridge 17 at

AZ Yeamen has sold nearly every script she's ever written. She has become the go-to for revisions, doctoring, whipping stories into shape, and pitch packages for Netflix, TVOne, Aspire TV, UMC Streaming, Bounce TV, and independent production companies. She most recently served as a Story Editor on Covenant on AMC's ALLBLK.

AZ is passionate and focused, with a granite-hard work ethic. She focuses not only on pursuing and developing her career in script/story development but also on fostering exciting, new talent. Every day is an opportunity to do more, learn more. She's an admitted lifelong student, an absorber of sights, sounds, and sensations that make her a natural-born writer. AZ brings heart, energy, and clarity of vision to story development and screenwriting projects. Her students have created concepts in class, outlined, drafted, written, rewritten, and sold projects to networks.

She is also the creator of Bridge 17 and the CCA Awards, a non-profit organization that supports screenwriters in getting their ideas heard

 

 

Testimonials

Testimonials from AZ's previous Stage 32 Courses:

"First and foremost, AZ is AMAZING! The information provided, the examples, the illustrations, the assignments were all geared towards equipping us to become great scriptwriters. I MUST take the course again. Nothing but applause for AZ and her style of teaching." - Chris S

"Not only does AZ know her stuff, but she articulates it very well. I highly recommend working with her no matter what stage your project is at. She'll work with you to take it from good to great." - Alyssa B.

"AZ is truly the best teacher I've ever had. She's not just a talented writer, but a great teacher who really cares about her students. I can't recommend her certification course enough!" - Laura L.

Credits

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