You know that sinking feeling when you're 50,000 words into your manuscript and suddenly realize it's dragging? Or racing ahead so fast readers won't catch their breath? Pacing problems are insidious—they creep in while you're focused on plot and character, and by the time you notice them, fixing the issue feels overwhelming.

Here's the thing: when you're stuck in a pacing problem, your brain tends to loop on the same two or three solutions. "Maybe I need to cut this chapter." "Perhaps adding more action will help." "Should I just start over?" This mental rut is exactly why The Twenty Ideas Technique is so powerful for breaking through pacing paralysis.

What Is The Twenty Ideas Technique?

The Twenty Ideas Technique is a creative problem-solving method that forces you to push past your obvious, surface-level solutions and dig into the weird, unconventional territory where real breakthroughs live. Here's the core principle: when facing a creative block, you must generate exactly twenty possible solutions—no more, no less.

Why twenty? Because the magic happens in a predictable pattern:

- Ideas 1-5: These are your obvious answers, the ones already bouncing around your head
- Ideas 6-10: Here you start to struggle, which is actually good—it means you're pushing past the familiar
- Ideas 11-15: You'll feel ridiculous, and your ideas might sound absurd. Perfect. Keep going.
- Ideas 16-20: This is where breakthrough lives. Exhausted and uninhibited, your brain starts making unexpected connections

The technique works because it short-circuits your editorial brain. You can't edit and generate simultaneously when you're racing to hit twenty ideas. You're forced to lower your standards, silence your inner critic, and explore territory you'd normally dismiss as "silly" or "wrong."

How to Apply It to Pacing Problems

When you've identified a pacing issue—whether it's a sagging middle, a rushed climax, or uneven chapter rhythm—grab a notebook and set a timer for 20 minutes. Then write this at the top:

"Twenty ways to fix the pacing in [specific section of your story]"

Be specific about which section you're addressing. Don't write "my novel's pacing"—that's too broad. Write "the pacing in chapters 12-15 where Sarah travels to her hometown" or "the rushed feeling in my climax scene."

Now generate your twenty ideas. Write fast. Don't judge. Don't explain. Just numbered solutions, rapid-fire. If you hit idea 13 and think "this is stupid," that's your cue you're on the right track.

Here's what this might actually look like:

A Concrete Example: The Sagging Reunion Scene

Let's say you're writing a contemporary novel, and you've got a five-chapter sequence where your protagonist reunites with her estranged sister. The problem? It feels slow. Readers beta-testing your manuscript keep saying they "skim" these chapters. You know something's wrong, but every solution you've tried makes it worse.

You sit down with The Twenty Ideas Technique. Your first ten ideas might look like this:

1. Cut two of the five chapters entirely
2. Add a physical fight between the sisters
3. Start the sequence later in the timeline
4. Add a ticking clock (someone's arriving in 24 hours)
5. Cut all the flashback passages
6. Make one sister keep a major secret
7. Give them a shared task they must complete together
8. Add a subplot about their childhood home being sold
9. Interrupt their reunion with a crisis elsewhere
10. Rewrite from the sister's POV instead

You're sweating now. These first ten are decent but feel... ordinary. They're the same ideas you've been mentally chewing on for weeks. But you committed to twenty, so you push on:

11. Make them communicate only through actions, not dialogue
12. Set each chapter in a different location as they move around town
13. Give one sister a disability that changes how they interact
14. Write the whole sequence as one long chapter instead of five
15. Add a third person (mother, friend, ex) who changes the dynamic
16. Have them accidentally get locked somewhere together
17. Reverse the sequence—start with the resolution and work backward
18. Cut three chapters but expand the remaining two with more depth
19. Give them opposing immediate goals that conflict scene-by-scene
20. Show the reunion through fragmented, non-linear scenes

Look at ideas 17, 19, and 20. These didn't exist in your mind ten minutes ago. Idea 19 especially sparks something: what if during this emotional reunion, the sisters have completely different immediate objectives? One wants to reconcile; the other just wants to get mom's jewelry and leave. Suddenly every scene has built-in tension and forward momentum.

That's an idea you'd never have reached if you'd stopped at idea 6.

Making The Technique Work for You

The cardinal rule: You must reach twenty. Not fifteen. Not eighteen. Twenty. The moment you give yourself permission to stop early, you're letting your brain off the hook.

Don't edit yourself. Write "burn the entire section and write it from scratch" if that's what comes to mind. Write "add zombies" if you're desperate. The ridiculous ideas serve a purpose—they loosen your grip on the "right" answer and let genuine creativity emerge.

Focus on generating, not evaluating. You'll have plenty of time later to decide which ideas are viable. For now, your only job is to hit twenty. Speed matters more than quality during this phase.

After you've got your twenty, step away for at least an hour. Then come back and highlight three to five ideas that spark genuine interest. Often, the best solution combines elements from multiple ideas on your list.

Why This Works for Pacing Specifically

Pacing problems are particularly susceptible to mental ruts because we tend to think about them in binary terms: "too fast" or "too slow." The Twenty Ideas Technique forces you past this reductive thinking and into nuanced territory.

When you're generating idea 17, you're not thinking "faster or slower"—you're thinking structurally, rhythmically, creatively. You're considering reversals, compressions, expansions, cuts, additions, and transformations you'd never entertain if you were just "trying to fix the pacing."

Your Pacing Breakthrough Awaits

The next time you're stuck in a pacing problem, resist the urge to tinker with what you've already tried. Instead, give yourself twenty minutes and a blank page. Generate your twenty ideas. Push through the discomfort of ideas 11-15. Trust that ideas 16-20 contain something you genuinely need.

Your breakthrough isn't hiding in careful analysis or another read-through. It's waiting in idea 18, disguised as something slightly absurd that just might work.

Now grab that notebook. Start your list. And don't stop until you hit twenty.