Stories typically contain a mixture of action and commentary. The writer combines action and commentary in order to keep the reader informed – they know what is going on – and engaged – they want to keep reading.

Writers deliberately play around with pacing. They might select fast pacing – lots of action coming in rapid succession – in order to make the reader feel excited, worried or nervous. Think detective novels and thrillers. Think how events speed up as you reach the climax. On the other hand, writers may deliberately slow down the action in order to either hold the reader in suspense or to convey something important about characters, quality of life, atmosphere, nature of interactions and so on.

Academic writing is also about pacing. Like fiction writers, academic writers also manage the balance of action and commentary. Yes of course writing a journal article is not the…