When I GM, I often use a calendar. For me this is one of my most important GM'ing tools. It helps to keep events in perspective in relation to each other, and I plot out events based upon dates... like
'Bandito Raid, evening, August 4th' when the PCs arrive on said date, I know what is going to occur. I have poor short term memory, and I often find that cool ideas that I have jotted down on a scrap of paper, will often never make it into a game session, because I've forgotten it.
The calendar is also handy as a recapping tool. I can see what events took place on what days leading up to the present.
The calendar ends up being more so important for keeping my pacing and events straight in my head when GMing PbP. We all know that time moves S L O W in this gaming format, and this just means that there is more REAL time for me to forget about things, or to get event timing mixed up-- I ran a tabletop Wheel of Time game that took place over a period of In-Game months-- we used the accurate calendar from the WoT world, and we all (myself & PCs) loved that with a single glance look up when something happened and when.
I used to get upset at game lulls... but I was very wet-behind-the-ears, and I took it personally somewhat. If there is a lull in your game, it is most often because the PCs don't quite know what to do, or feel they may feel that there isn't anything FOR their PC's to do--
(As a PbP player, I post regardless. I'm big on 'flavor posts' and I recognize that as a Player I need to 'do my part')
I suggest that if you have a lull in your game, take the initiative as a GM to post. Maybe inch the PCs just one step closer to where they can pick up the slack once again-- or have a PC directly ask a question of your players. Bring them back into a position where they should be interacting, and often times you can get things going again. At the end of the day, it is up to you the GM to control the pace, and therefore you have the ability to jump start things if you know the type of post that is needed. PMs are also a great way to nudge a player as well.
Are any of you familiar with the concept of
'5-Room Dungeons'? (follow the link if you aren't)-- I had severe pacing issues and this is what helped me kick that issue to the curb. I use the 5-room dungeon format for large and small sections of my games, and I use them in a very loose sense-- often the PCs are in a dungeon, but the 5 rooms represent parts of the players progress through the current scenario. By adhering to the 5-Room format, I am able to keep my own tendencies to meander to a minimum, and it helps to keep the gameplay varied and interesting.
Here's an example from my own game, and how the 5-Room Dungeon format was utilized:
ROOM #1 - Entrance & Guardian
My PCs were arriving by steam freighter to a port town that was swarming with Nazis. The goal was to get into town, without alerting the Nazis to anything peculiar. This consisted of a simple "Can Ve see your Papers, please?" situation. No combat was necessary--role-playing and sneaking was used to beat Room #1.
ROOM #2 - Puzzle of Role-Playing Challenge
The PCs needed to locate a specific NPC to0 be their guide, but the dude ripped off the Nazis and was in hiding. They needed to Role-play with the NPC's kid sidekick to convince him that they were okay-- this wasn't too hard, but oner of my PCs is dressed in a German uniform, and it made the kid scared. They had to convince him that they were on the level.
ROOM #3 - Trick or Setback
The PCs succeeded in locating the NPC, but the set-back is that he needed them to run a few errands for him before they could get on their way and leave town. They party split to accomplish these errands and met back at the Cantina where...
ROOM #4 - Climax, Big Battle Or Conflict
The Nazis managed to track down the NPC just after the PCs had returned. They had to fight their way out of this situation, and it was an intense battle, though it was done in 5 or 6 rounds.
ROOM #5 - Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
I decided that getting the hell out of the town with their NPC guide intact was it's own reward. And after all the hoops the PCs had to jump through just to get to this point, it really was.
I HIGHLY recommend that you as a GM take a look at the 5-Room Dungeon as presented at the link above-- put it into practice, but don't be too literal with your adaptation into your game. Work loose, and your PCs won't really even notice that they are in a 5-Room sort of plot!