You’re right indeed. Agents and editors must have had a big role to play in those ‘rules of writing’. However… that doesn’t make them bad. They’re meant to be helpful, after all, even if they can seem a bit formulaic. And when you’re focused on marketability and the profit motive alone, you have to promote what sells most easily. But not everyone needs the same kind of book, and even those who enjoy the fast-paced narrative will take time to enjoy the odd seranade. There has to be room for the slow-burn story, just as there has to be time for the hand-written letter in a world of texts and Tweets.