Feedback on my chapter pacing made me rewrite the whole outline

Last month my book club's moderator said my draft dragged in the middle, she pointed at chapter 12 of 28 and told me nothing happens there. I cut 2 subplots and moved the big reveal up by 5 chapters, now the pace feels way tighter. Has anyone else restructured a whole draft after one blunt comment from a reader?

1 comments

1 Comment

claire44325d ago

Did you actually agree with her about chapter 12 being dead weight, or was it just easier to rework the whole thing than argue? Because cutting two subplots and moving your big reveal that far up is a huge change based on one reader's taste. Book clubs are group settings, and one person's "nothing happens" can be another person's "finally getting to breathe." I've seen drafts where the slow middle is what makes the ending hit harder, and moving the reveal early just makes everything after feel like a long epilogue. Maybe your original outline was fine and just needed trimming in that one chapter, not a full demolition. No harm in what you did if you're happier with it, but I'd ask a couple other readers before you trust one voice that much.