Why Your Story Feels Like It's Dragging (And How to Fix It)

You know that feeling when you're reading a book or watching a movie, and everything starts strong, but somewhere around the two-thirds mark, things just... slow down? The momentum drops. You start checking your phone. You wonder if maybe you should just skip ahead to see how it ends.

That's a pacing problem, and it's one of the most common issues in storytelling. But here's the good news: there's a powerful concept that can help you fix it. It's called The Promise of the Premise, and understanding how to apply it to your endings can transform your storytelling from "meh" to "I can't put this down."

What Is The Promise of the Premise?

Before we dive into endings, let's make sure we're on the same page about what this concept actually means.

The Promise of the Premise is simple: your story makes an implicit promise to your audience from the very beginning, and you need to deliver on that promise by the end.

When someone picks up a romantic comedy, they're promised witty banter, romantic tension, and ultimately, two people finding love. When they start a heist movie, they expect clever planning, tension-filled execution, and a big payoff (whether the heist succeeds or fails spectacularly).

The premise isn't just your logline or your genre—it's the specific flavor and expectation you set up in those crucial opening pages or scenes. If your story starts with a scrappy underdog discovering they have magical powers, your audience expects to see that underdog eventually use those powers in a meaningful, climactic way.

The Ending Problem: When Promises Get Forgotten

Here's where many stories stumble: writers get so caught up in the middle of their story—developing subplots, exploring character relationships, building the world—that they lose sight of what they promised at the beginning.

The result? An ending that feels disconnected from what made the story compelling in the first place. The pacing suffers because readers or viewers sense something's off. They came for one thing and got something else entirely.

Common symptoms include:

- Endings that rely on completely new elements introduced in the final act
- Resolutions that focus on minor characters or subplots instead of the main storyline
- Climaxes that feel thematically disconnected from the opening
- Finales that are technically well-written but emotionally unsatisfying

How The Promise of the Premise Fixes Your Pacing

When you consciously fulfill the promise of your premise in your ending, something magical happens: your entire story gains purpose and momentum.

Think of your story like a rubber band being stretched. The premise is where you pull it back, creating tension and potential energy. Everything in the middle should stretch that band further. And the ending? That's where you release it—all that built-up energy snaps forward in a satisfying conclusion.

When your ending delivers on your premise:

- Readers feel that satisfying "click" of completion
- The story feels purposeful rather than meandering
- Earlier scenes gain retroactive significance
- The pacing accelerates naturally toward the climax because everything is pulling in the same direction

Practical Steps to Apply This to Your Story

Alright, enough theory. Let's get practical. Here's how to make sure your ending delivers on your premise and fixes those pacing issues:

1. Identify Your Core Promise

Go back to your opening. Not just your first chapter or scene, but roughly the first 10-15% of your story. Ask yourself:

- What expectation am I setting up here?
- What made me excited to write this story in the first place?
- If this were a movie trailer, what would be the main hook?

Write this down in one or two sentences. Be specific.

2. Trace the Through-Line

Now look at your middle sections. Can you draw a clear line from that opening promise to your planned ending?

If your premise promises "a detective using unconventional methods to catch a serial killer," your ending should show exactly that—not the detective's partner making the arrest, not a lucky break, and not the killer turning themselves in. The climax needs to showcase your detective using those specific unconventional methods.

3. Clear the Clutter

This is often the hardest part. You need to evaluate every subplot, every character arc, every theme you've woven in, and ask: "Does this serve the promise of my premise?"

Not everything needs to go, but anything that's actively pulling focus in your ending probably should be resolved earlier or trimmed down. Your finale needs clarity and momentum, not a tangle of competing interests.

4. Escalate, Don't Deviate

Your ending should be the biggest, most intense version of what you promised—not a different thing entirely.

If you opened with small-scale magical mishaps, don't end with an interdimensional war (unless that escalation was part of the promise). If you started with intimate relationship drama, don't suddenly pivot to a car chase (unless it's a very specific kind of story where that's the point).

5. Test for Emotional Alignment

Finally, check whether your ending produces the same emotional experience you promised at the beginning, just amplified.

A story that opens with wonder and discovery should end with wonder and discovery. One that begins with dread and paranoia should culminate in dread and paranoia. Your audience signed up for that emotional journey—give it to them.

The Bottom Line

Pacing problems often aren't really about pacing at all—they're about broken promises. When your story loses momentum, it's usually because you've drifted away from what made your premise compelling in the first place.

By consciously applying The Promise of the Premise to your endings, you create a natural pull that draws readers forward. They feel that you're building toward something specific, something they've been waiting for since page one. And when you finally deliver? That's when you get the "I couldn't put it down" comments.

So take another look at your ending. Does it fulfill the promise you made at the beginning? If not, that might just be the key to fixing your pacing issues.

Your readers are waiting for what you promised them. Make sure you deliver.