5 Netflix Tricks That Will Transform Your Story Pacing
What binge-watching taught me about hooks, cliffhangers, and keeping readers glued to the page—even when they should probably go to sleep.
I have a confession: I've spent more time analyzing Netflix shows than I care to admit.
Not just watching them (though trust me, I've done plenty of that). I mean actually studying them. Frame by frame. Beat by beat. Taking notes like some kind of streaming service scholar.
Why? Because somewhere between my third rewatch of Stranger Things and falling down a Dark rabbit hole at 2 am, I realized something: Netflix has cracked the code on pacing in a way that most novels haven't. (My wife loves watching shows with me soooo much! I have a post on this whole watching TV or movies with your writer husband coming sometime soon.)
They've figured out how to make you say "just one more episode" at midnight when you have work in the morning. They've mastered the art of the cliffhanger, the strategic reveal, the perfectly timed emotional beat.
And here's the thing—these aren't just TV tricks. They're storytelling principles that translate directly to novels. Whether you're writing literary fiction or YA fantasy, the mechanics of keeping someone engaged are the same.
Now, that doesn’t mean they’ve also mastered the novel-to-TV adaptation. We all know they haven’t, no one really has. Although I’d be curious to hear in the comments what TV or film adaptations you think might fall in the category of masterful? Or even better than the original? Are there any? I can’t think of any right now off-hand, but then again, I am writing this post at 5 am.
So let's dive into what Netflix can teach us about pacing. Because if they can keep millions of people binge-watching until 3 am, maybe we can figure out how to keep readers turning pages until they finish our books.
*(Quick note: I'm using "Netflix" as shorthand for binge-worthy TV, but these principles work whether you're watching Netflix, HBO, Hulu, or any platform that's figured out how to keep you glued to your screen.)
Trick #1: The Cold Open Hook (a.k.a. Start in the Middle)
What Netflix Does: Most Netflix shows don't waste time with exposition. They drop you straight into action, conflict, or intrigue. Bridgerton opens with Anthony and a woman in a passionate moment before cutting to credits. The Crown starts with King George VI coughing up blood. Ozark begins with a money laundering operation going sideways.
No setup. No, "here's our protagonist living their normal life." Just immediate stakes.
How This Applies to Your Novel: Your first chapter doesn't need to introduce your world, explain your magic system, or show your character's ordinary day. It needs to make readers ask a question they're desperate to have answered.
The Netflix Test: If your opening chapter were the cold open of a Netflix show, would viewers stick around for the title sequence? Or would they switch to something else?
Try This: Start your novel in the middle of a conversation, conflict, or crisis. Trust your readers to catch up. They're smarter than you think, and they're more patient with confusion than they are with boredom.
Trick #2: The Strategic Information Drop (Parceling Out Answers)
What Netflix Does: Netflix shows are masters of giving you just enough information to satisfy your immediate curiosity while raising new questions. In Dark, every answer about time travel creates three new mysteries. In Stranger Things, explaining the Upside Down just makes you want to know more about Eleven.
They never dump all the exposition at once. They meter it out strategically, always leaving you wanting more.
How This Applies to Your Novel: Stop front-loading your world-building and backstory. Instead of explaining everything in chapter two, dole out information when the reader needs it emotionally, not when it's convenient for you as the writer.
The Netflix Principle: Answer the question your reader is asking right now. Then, immediately, make them ask a new question.
Try This: Map out what information your reader needs to know and when they need to know it. Then delay revealing it as long as possible without confusing or frustrating them. The sweet spot is right before they start to get annoyed.
Trick #3: The Episode-Ending Cliffhanger (Chapter Hooks That Actually Work)
What Netflix Does: Netflix endings don't just wrap up the episode's plot. They introduce a new problem, reveal a shocking piece of information, or put characters in immediate danger.
The best Netflix cliffhangers aren't about what just happened (that’s too easy). They’re masterclasses in leaving you wondering what might happen next. (Hence the need-to-know binge effect.)
How This Applies to Your Novel: Your chapter endings should create momentum forward, not provide closure. End with questions, not answers. End with characters making decisions that will have consequences, not reflecting on decisions they've already made.
The Netflix Formula:
Resolve the immediate scene tension
Introduce a new problem or complication
Give readers a reason to keep reading NOW, not tomorrow
Try This: Go through your last five chapter endings. How many of them end with your character going to sleep, walking away, or reflecting on what just happened? If it's more than one, you're missing opportunities to create forward momentum.
Trick #4: The Multi-Thread Weave (Cutting Between Storylines for Maximum Impact)
What Netflix Does: Watch any episode of This Is Us or The Witcher. They don't follow one storyline from beginning to end. They weave between multiple plot threads, cutting away right when tension peaks and returning to a different storyline.
This creates a compounding effect—each thread builds on the others, and the cuts themselves create rhythm and pacing.
How This Applies to Your Novel: If you have multiple POV characters or storylines, don't resolve one completely before moving to the next. Cut between them strategically, leaving each thread at a moment of high tension or unanswered questions.
The Netflix Technique: Cut away from a scene right before the payoff. Make readers wait for resolution while you build tension in another storyline.
Try This: Identify the highest tension moment in each of your POV chapters. That's where you should end the chapter, not after the tension resolves. Let the resolution happen in your character's next chapter, after you've built tension elsewhere.
Trick #5: The Emotional Roller Coaster (Strategic Highs and Lows)
What Netflix Does: Netflix shows understand pacing isn't just about plot—it's about emotional rhythm. They follow intense scenes with quieter character moments. They balance humor with drama. They know when to give you a breather and when to hit you with another emotional punch.
Stranger Things follows a terrifying Demogorgon attack with a tender moment between Hopper and Eleven. The Good Place balances existential dread with Jason's ridiculous one-liners.
How This Applies to Your Novel: Your story needs emotional variety. If every scene is high-stakes action, readers will become numb. If every scene is filled with quiet character development, readers will get bored.
The Netflix Balance:
Follow intense scenes with quieter moments
Use humor to release tension before building it again
Give readers emotional breathers, but not for too long
Vary the types of tension (physical danger, emotional conflict, relationship drama, internal struggle)
Try This: Map the emotional intensity of your last ten scenes on a scale of 1-10. If they're all 8s and 9s, you need more variety. If they're all 3s and 4s, you need more stakes.
The Binge-Worthy Secret
Here's what I learned from studying Netflix: the secret to binge-worthy storytelling isn't constant action or endless cliffhangers.
It's momentum.
Every scene needs to push the story forward in some way—through plot development, character change, or emotional escalation. Every chapter ending needs to create a question that can only be answered by reading the next chapter.
And most importantly, every emotional beat needs to feel earned. Netflix shows work because they understand that audiences will follow characters through anything if they care about what happens to them.
For My Screenwriter Friends
These same principles apply to your scripts, but with some key adaptations:
Cold Opens: Your teaser needs to hook in 30 seconds, not 30 pages. Start with the moment everything changes.
Information Drops: TV writing is all about the "mythology drops"—parceling out world-building across episodes, not seasons. Each script should answer one question and raise two new ones.
Scene Endings: Every scene should end on a "turn"—a moment that shifts power, reveals information, or forces a character choice. If your scene just... ends, it needs a sharper button. Don’t be an “And then” writer. Be a “But” or “Therefore” writer.
Multi-Threading: Use your A, B, and C plots strategically. Cut between them at moments of peak tension to create that "page-turning" effect, even in a script format.
Emotional Pacing: Remember that TV episodes need act breaks that make viewers come back after commercial (or keep watching through the credits). Each act should escalate emotional stakes.
The goal is the same whether you're writing novels or scripts: make it impossible for your audience to look away.
Your Netflix Challenge
Here's your homework:
Pick a Netflix show you've binged recently. Not one you watched casually—one you couldn't stop watching.
Watch one episode analytically. Take notes on:
How does it open?
When do they reveal information?
How does each scene end?
Where do they cut between storylines?
What makes you want to watch the next episode?
Apply one technique to your current chapter. Don't try to implement everything at once. Pick the trick that would have the biggest impact on your pacing and experiment with it.
Test it on a reader. Give someone your revised chapter and see if they want to keep reading. If they put it down, you know you need to adjust.
The Real Lesson
Netflix didn't revolutionize television by inventing new storytelling techniques. They revolutionized it by applying old techniques more strategically.
The tools have always been there: hooks, cliffhangers, strategic reveals, emotional pacing. Netflix just figured out how to use them with surgical precision.
Your novel can do the same thing. You don't need to reinvent storytelling. You just need to use the tools more intentionally.
Because at the end of the day, whether someone is watching Netflix or reading your book, they're making the same choice over and over again:
Should I keep going, or should I stop?
Make it impossible for them to stop.
What's the last book that kept you reading way past your bedtime? What made it impossible to put down? Drop your answers in the comments—I'm always looking for new examples of irresistible pacing.
What an awesome article thank you!! I can’t tell you how often I’m up until 3 (or later) just to shake my fists at the screen and curse the Netflix gods. Better Call Saul was my most recent tormentor. As to your challenge question, this may be controversial, but I think Kubrick’s Shining was better 🤷🏻♂️
I read Robert Jordan's Eye Of The World Series - All fourteen books. I couldn't put any of them down and in fact I was inconsolable in the time between each book's printing. The waiting - sheer torment. I have read the series - several times over and it still wraps me in a spell that I can not escape from. The wisdom you have provided here is something I am just beginning to learn - having someone explain it again helps to crystalize it for me. Thank you!