Accentuating the necessary - pace in fiction

[John Dean]

Pace is so important for writers to achieve. I have worked over the years with several writers who created pace, who kept the story moving, drawing the reader in, then damaged it by putting in unnecessary detail, descriptions, back story etc.

The result is chapters when the story starts to gather pace then slows down again, which interrupts the narrative flow so that when we return to the story it’s like going from a standing start.  Do it too many times and the reader loses interest.

Such descriptions have their place but not when you are trying to keep things moving. The solution is cutting out the unnecessary to accentuate the good stuff.

It's just about the most important lesson a writer can learn and one I learn and re-learn every day.