As someone who has been a devoted reader since a very young age, as well as a reviewer and author of fiction, story flow is something I've learned to feel intuitively without properly considering its defining nature. I'm not convinced it's simply another name for pacing. Perhaps a better way to describe it is a "momentum of attention. Momentum of Attention In physics, we learn that momentum is mass times velocity—you could think of it as the "staying power" behind something

When a story is boring and confusing, the problem is often its inciting incident.

We writers tightly grasp cloak and dagger to shield ourselves from our critics and from our own truths. Even the most forthright author speaks in a voice that differs from the person behind the writing.