Pace - help?

[StormCoat]

Regular but have nc'ed. I'm revising the first 30k words of a novel (literary fiction) for a prize it's been shortlisted for, and think the main problem I'm facing is that its pace is too slow and meditative, without enough narrative grab to keep a reader who isn't invested in slow-moving character-based fiction with a lot of backstory.

(Which is me - I'm writing the kind of novel I like reading, but I think that the novelist who is judging is quite different, and will be judging on behalf of the general reader.)

I've been reading Nicola Morgan's good blog (Helpineedapublisher) on pace, and she's very ruthless and says things like chop your chapters down unless they're already very short, start partway into the action and end before the end of the action in each chapter/scene, cut at least two of the first five chapters etc etc.

And I'm wondering whether people think this is basically good advice. I only have a few days to revise the 30k, and while I do think the chapters feel overlong, I'm also worried that such drastic cuts will make it choppy and incoherent... Thoughts?

Thanks, everyone.

I write suspense and have been told to shorten everything to make the pace pick up. So, shorter chapters, shorter paragraphs, shorter sentences, shorter words. Think of the section as a triangle, with everything becoming shorter/narrower as the tension mounts.

I'm happy to read a sample chapter if you like and try to give you an idea of how to speed things up. PM me if you're interested.

Generally, though I'd say write what you like to read, not what you anticipate the judge will like.

That's a really kind offer, Imperial, but unfortunately I don't really think there is time, especially as I've just got back to my desk after a brief but debilitating sick headache... I have four days, a small child, a demanding day job and DH about to go away for work.

But I think you've put your finger on it. I think the judge is at the commercial edge of literary fiction, while my favourite novels are quite static and character-driven, and my own work tends towards that, rather than being plotty. I would very much like to win the damn contest, to give myself the best chance of getting an agent, but am torn between (1) giving myself a decent shot by acknowledging that the judge is likely to be judging from the pov of the general reader, and (2) completely misrepresenting myself!