4 ms·

As a writer, I can tell you you're doing very valuable work for your friend. The vast majority of people can't tell you when something's wrong with the writing

As a writer, I can tell you you're doing very valuable work for your friend. The vast majority of people can't tell you when something's wrong with the writing even if they want to, let alone point a finger at it. I don't have a list, but here's something that I dealt with recently: * Is everything sufficiently described/explained? - Environment descriptions: Is it clear where the scene is set? - Character motivation: Does the reader understand why they decided to do <x>? - Are there enough clues for the conclusion / reveal / twist to make sense? - What day is it? Whenever a reader finds something confusing, it's usually a matter of that thing not having been described enough. * Are the characters distinctive enough? - Have I described each in a non-perfunctory way? - Could I tell who's saying which line if I removed the dialogue tags? - Is someone just a background character when they ought to be a person? * Can a paragraph be cut down into a sentence without losing anything? Edit: * Is there enough tension throughout the story? Is the main character lacking personal stakes in the plot?

KineticLensman 6y ago
Thank you! Your last point - about tension - is an interesting one - it's the one where I found it hardest to comment. I think this was because the genre wasn't one that I normally read, and I didn't really know whether the degree of tension was appropriate for the anticipated readership. Someone else who looked at the same book said "He doesn't suffer enough" and I found myself agreeing. I guess this is an example of the difference between me - who was in effect looking for technical plot consistency - and a professional editor who is aware of the genre conventions and reader expectations.
- zombie_owlbear 6y ago
  That last point was something neither I nor my dozen readers had noticed, but the editor I hired did. It was such a major point that I decided the book needed a near-complete rewrite to fix. The editor was worth the money just for that one thing! You're definitely right about genre conventions playing a big role. That said, you can still say "I think the character hasn't suffered enough, but maybe that's normal in this genre". What I said about my own editor is actually interesting because they don't normally edit my genre, which was obvious in some aspects, but they could still point out the pacing / tension issue.

KineticLensman 6y ago

Thank you! Your last point - about tension - is an interesting one - it's the one where I found it hardest to comment. I think this was because the genre wasn't one that I normally read, and I didn't really know whether the degree of tension was appropriate for the anticipated readership. Someone else who looked at the same book said "He doesn't suffer enough" and I found myself agreeing. I guess this is an example of the difference between me - who was in effect looking for technical plot consistency - and a professional editor who is aware of the genre conventions and reader expectations.

zombie_owlbear 6y ago
That last point was something neither I nor my dozen readers had noticed, but the editor I hired did. It was such a major point that I decided the book needed a near-complete rewrite to fix. The editor was worth the money just for that one thing! You're definitely right about genre conventions playing a big role. That said, you can still say "I think the character hasn't suffered enough, but maybe that's normal in this genre". What I said about my own editor is actually interesting because they don't normally edit my genre, which was obvious in some aspects, but they could still point out the pacing / tension issue.