When a story is “advanced in a non-trivial way,” we get the local color and something else. The characters go into the scene in one state and leave in another. The story becomes a more particular version of itself; it refines the question it’s been asking all along.

We started with books. Analyzing around a quarter of a million Amazon book reviews revealed that present tense increased impact. Saying a book “is” rather than “was” a good read or “has” rather than “had” great plot development led other people to find a review more helpful.

Overall, we found that speed was good. Books, movies, and TV shows with faster plot progression were liked more than their slower-moving counterparts.

Just as atypical lyrics make songs more interesting to listen to, a faster plot progression makes a story more stimulating. Rather than just plodding along, moving faster between more differentiated topics and ideas is more exciting, which leads audiences to react more favorably.

In addition, we found that within stories, there were times when plots should move faster and times when they should move more slowly. At the beginning of a book or movie, the canvas is blank. An audience doesn’t know who the characters are, what the setting is, or how everything relates. So the beginning of a story sets the stage, building a base or jumping-off point for the rest of the narrative.

Starting slowly is key. It takes time for the audience members to digest the characters, their relationships, and everything else, so a plot that moves too quickly at the outset may confuse them.

... early on, speed was detrimental. Audiences reacted more favorably to stories that moved more slowly initially.

If the goal is to entertain, speed is good. Moving faster helps keep an audience stimulated and engaged. But the beginning of a piece should be slower to make sure everyone is on board, and then the story can move more quickly as things progress.

If the goal is to inform, however, a different trajectory may be better. Indeed, when we looked at the success of academic papers, which are more about informing than about entertaining, speed was detrimental. Though moving more quickly among related ideas makes content

more stimulating, it’s also more difficult to follow. So particularly when presenting complex ideas, if your goal is to inform, slow may be the way to go.