The sequel to The Esau Emergence is coming along. I’m struggling with it. It’s no secret that this story wasn’t compete in concept until the book cover for Emergence was finished. There’s a story; I just find it more craftwork then the first book. It’s okay. I like these characters and I love the plot. Yesterday, I was working through the first seven chapters and I was feeling flat. I decided to move some chunks around to see if it picked up the pace and moved things along. It worked! Looking through the changes, allowed me to move on into the next couple of chapters with ease. I still might scrap some scenes, but right now I’m cruising when before I was schlepping. Pace is important both in novels and screenplays. Have I mentioned I’m brushing up on screenplays so I can rough out one for Emergence?

Of course, when I’m looking at a particular focus of my writing, I go to the experts. Gerry Visco wrote about pacing in Techniques to Establish Pacing on The Writer’s Store website. How can you fault an article that quotes Elmore Leonard? I can’t. The article provided some specific examples and helped me think about my approach to the scene.