Writing - Pace

I try to be aware of pace when I'm writing but it is quite enjoyable to wallow in the glory of descriptive writing. You can find evidence of the same in truly good writers. Alistair Maclean in HMS Ulysses, spends a significant chunk of time describing the wild sea on the northern convoy routes during WWII. A brilliant read. Similarly, Dickens description of the misty marsh in the early pages of Great Expectations is great, but at times that tendency stifles the pace of his stories. 

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To help with pace, it is important to plan the actions that will take place in the stories. Within that process is the definition of the roles each of the characters you are guiding in your tale, and putting that together smoothly and fluidly. After that has been done, it is up to you how the outcome appears on the page. It would be naive to expect that there wouldn't be any description, but that, plus the overuse of dialogue, will slow the pace of the story. 

On the other hand, you cannot write an interesting and engaging story without developing the personalities, which means you have to decide on the balance between the pace and the development and that is why writing is so enjoyable but intensely personal. This is not a blog about how to write a story, there are other factors like adding twists to your tales, and like all advice it can be taken or left alone. 

God Bless