Theme and Strategy: Part 4 - Pattern in Action

Once you decide what your plot will be in your story, you can translate the concept into action, into events. Who does what, when. 

A common mistake beginning writers make is to think of action as nothing but a series of successive events like beads on a string. First this happens, then that, then that, and so forth. But action is responsible for building tension, for gaining momentum in a story. You have to learn to pace actions so that events build dramatically.

How to create pattern in action:

1) After you write a scene, ask yourself in what way (or ways) a scene contributed to developing or answering  the plot questions you've raised.
2) When stuck, ask yourself the plot questions and how to direct your efforts to answer them.
3) Don't overwhelm your readers with plot questions, 2-3 are enough.
4) Don't delay giving answers. Some answers give early. For example in a mystery you can answer 'Whose are the bones?' and later answer 'How did the bones get into the cellar?' Pace the answers from beginning to end.
5) Make sure the action is consistent with the dramatic phases of the pattern.

Action is the means; plot is it's end.

Source: A book from Ronald Tobias