Looking at pace

My biggest problem in fiction (that I am aware of, anyway) is pacing. It isn't something you can go through a book with a red pen and recognise 'a bit of pace' and cut it out. I tend to start strong, wander about in the middle, and finish strong and way too fast (this is writing a book I'm talking about). I've just written life writing piece no. 2 and realise (thanks to my home grown critics) that the first part is strong but the second part is moody and emotional but nowhere matches the first part. Back to the life writing drawing board.

So, I'm going to run up a checklist and analyse what I have already written. If I can give each scene a good pace and match them up a bit more. You can really tell the days I was tired or bored, and compare them with the days when I was carried away.

I'm working through Revision and Self-editing by James Scott Bell. I loved his book on plot, and so far this is as good. Back to my words!