So, about writing.

Pacing

Now, let me know if this sounds familiar, okay?

Let's say you're reading something influenced by a different form of entertainment medium that isn't literature, be it a television series, a movie, a comic, etc. 

And in the middle of a conversation, action sequence, or whatever may be going on in the chapter— the story... attempts to cut into a flashback of a previous memory or change POV.

My first thought would be: "Oh god," because it's jarring— Because you aren't respecting the medium.

Let's cover why cuts work for movies, television series, and comics, and why it doesn't apply to books as well, and the answer is painfully simple. 

Because books are not a visual medium. It is a textual one. 

Movies & TV shows? They have transitions such as fading to and from a black screen, into establishing shots that easily allow the viewer to understand what they're seeing is a new scene— separate from the one they were just in.

They're able to make use of special effects, different color palettes, lighting techniques, something that is able to let the audience understand visually, without ruining the experience. Maybe the flashback's color palette is washed out and the edges are blurred, or even just in black & white.

Comics are able to accomplish similar feats through clever usage of their comic panels, where they're positioned, or a set of panels focused on scenery.

Now, let's talk about the visual strengths of a book.

Let me be completely frank— there are none.

Even for graphical novels, the images are mostly there to serve as a visual aid, and not something it uses as a crutch.

Now, why should you, in fact, respect the medium? Good question indeed. Allow me to elaborate.

I already know that someone, somewhere, was protesting against my claim that "books have no visual strengths," because there's a visual image/element of the story inside your head, as if you were imagining it as a movie.

And I'm well aware of that— in fact, that's how you should perceive a book if it is well-written.

But that's the thing. The visualization of the story takes place inside of your head. Which can be disastrous when attempting to force a POV switch or flashback.

Unlike any other visual medium, where all they have to do is let you see to understand, in a book, you have to spend the next couple of paragraphs trying to describe and re-set the scene. And after immediately having a scene set out before you, that scene becomes hard to forget.

Since you have to imagine everything... when you add in a new element that clashes and conflicts with the scene you've already set up, it can create an extremely confused audience.

For example, let's say that the protagonist is inside of a steampunk-esque factory full of industrial pipes, engines, and machinery. Now you have him cut to a flashback of himself back at his house on a wheat-field in the middle of the chapter.

Now, to the reader, who was completely immersed in the factory setting, now has to somehow forget all of the prior elements of the industrial-factory setting and re-do the same process but to imagine the protagonist's house.