Does this scene belong in my novel?

I recently bought a Blu-ray of a film I love.

After I watched the movie, I explored the deleted scenes. All were good, but as the director said, all would have slowed the pace of the film because what they had to reveal to the audience was already evident in other scenes.

There’s a lovely scene in my current work in progress which was not in my initial outline. Two characters get to know each other better, and the reader sees a new perspective on why one of the character’s marriage failed. Up until this point, we only know their partner’s perspective.

But I’m not sure I’ll keep this scene.

The scene before and the scene after are high conflict scenes, both featuring  the married couple. The latter reveals the new perspective of the failed marriage anyway, and for me, allowing it to be mentioned to the reader at this point makes the overall reveal stronger.

Plus, I don’t slow the pace for the reader with the feel-good chapter in between.

It’s important to consider pace when you’re writing.

Many years ago I added a new scene to my novel, Social Media Central, where the characters find printed photographs, thus becoming fascinated by images long before the dystopian era in which they live. But my editor insisted I delete the chapter as it slowed the pace of the story. He was right. I paused the narrative to make a point about the way digital images were easily deleted, lost, or forgotten.

And I’ve read indie novels where I’ve had to skip chapters because the plot took a backseat. Nothing of importance was revealed to the reader, making these scenes unneeded fillers.

There are two other reasons to ditch my feel-good scene.

The married man convinces the younger man to use a dating site, and although I was keen to explore how the younger man gains confidence through various sexual encounters, I never wrote those scenes. His newfound assurance now happens thanks to his two lovers, who just happen to be main characters who already exist in the novel. This change in plot is stronger for the overall story, and for the reader.

The other reason to ditch my feel-good scene is that the married man exits the story soon after. So, the fact that the younger character had the chance to know him better is immaterial to the overall plot.

This is what they mean by ‘killing your darlings’.

The married man also shares an important tale from his past in the scene I’m thinking of deleting. It puts him in perspective, allowing us to understand his internalised homophobia.

Now I just need to work out where else he should tell this tale.