Creative writing, however, is creative and can be many things. It is an art. And like any art it takes time to hone technical skills, and time and care to bring your art to life. There's definitely a craft to thinking about structure and the mechanics that make your story flow, to know where more details are required or less, to write realistic dialogue and fight scenes, and structuring your work so that a reader has both down time and still having plenty of action and interest.
So editing is part of the revision process. Using a developmental editor ends up being a lot more about revision than simply editing, even though that is part of it too. Here are some things I've started thinking about in my revision. Hope someone finds them helpful:
1) Larger Structure: Where do things slow down? How long does it stay slow? Why is it slow? Is it because I stop the action and have a two page info dump where I explain all the details I've lovingly put into my fictional world or character? Do I have a kitchen or domestic scene? These sometimes end up times when two characters sit down and reflect on what's happened over coffee or a meal and turn out to be an info dump in disguise. They should be handled carefully and no book should have more than a couple scenes in a kitchen. But maybe things stay too fast paced for too long and the reader needs a break. That's a problem too. In order to keep the plot moving along, the character does need to reflect on and learn from what has happened along the way. They do need to strategize and plan their next move. They also need time for emotional growth. A story about a character who doesn't grow emotionally is not only realistic, but I find it boring.
A good way to think about a novel is via the 3 Act model. Think Shakespeare. That formula is that all action happens in the course of a short period of time, I think the number is either a day and a night or two days and two nights. There is an Act 1 where all the exposition happens, characters are introduced, the setting and characters are defined -- the best way to do this is through interactions with other characters or via the character's actions rather than long thoughtful descriptive prose -- and where you set up the problem the character will face. Act 2A is where the character begins to learn about their adversaries and the problems they face and the action begins to escalate. Act 2B is when characters have to start making hard choices or facing insurmountable problems they've now identified and mysteries they think they've unraveled. Act 3A is action action action. Act 3B is when the characters face the baddie, or make their ultimate decision or take on their ultimate challenge. Act 3C is conclusion time where they face the fallout of their actions and choices and reflect on what's happened. The way I learned this model didn't break out Act 3 quite so precisely, but I found that in terms of pacing as I rewrote novel #2 it helped to identify these things as specifically as possible while still giving myself a little room for blending transitions, smoothing out the narrative, and in case things changed.
2) Writing the scene - Each scene has to represent a moment, a choice, a challenge to be faced, or an obstacle to overcome. In other words, it has to have a point. One good piece of advice I read recently was to identify what the characters motivations and goals are in each scene. At first this sounds like micromanaging, and perhaps this is something for the revision level rather than the initial getting things on paper. However you do it, each scene has to matter. If there's fluff, extraneous and unnecessarily long descriptions of the environment or another character, you're probably info dumping or getting lost in your own beautiful words. Economy of words is key to this. Think decisive statements, clean and concise descriptions, and remember that a character will only notice so much. What sticks out to them will be based on their background and motivations, and that will likely be the thing that is most important to whatever action they take. Also remember to be very careful with your -ly words, particularly adverbs. If an verb needs a qualifying adverb to give it punch, you should probably choose a verb that is stronger in describing the action. I have been gradually more aware of how to cut down unnecessary prose and generally try to stick to a rule that if the description of a character or thing is more than a sentence, they have to be unusually interesting or important. If it's more than a paragraph it needs to be massively important, since usually that second paragraph is backstory or details unrelated directly to what is going on in the scene. Remember, you should only give your readers what they NEED TO KNOW.
3) Actions Speak Louder Than Words - If the rule is "Show, Don't Tell," most of the character's perception of what's happening is going to probably be through action and reaction. This is perhaps more specific to first person point of view. However, in any story with a lot of action there isn't time between punches or pauses before the opponent throws a punch for the main character to reflect on their opponent's fighting style or what rings their wearing, unless the rings cut their face. Also, most brooding warriors aren't going to brood when they're in a shootout, relatively simple characters are likely going to be motivated and think in relatively simple ways. Emotional characters need a little more finesse, especially when dealing with the overuse of adverbs and adjectives, but that's where you need to rely on your craft. Something my editor pointed out in my first novel was the amount of shrugging and nodding that was going on in some of the scenes. That was something that got changed in the revision process. Although I'm not necessarily a big believer in all of the "how to write a break-out novel" books, there are some that are particularly useful, even if the advice is often general or maybe not conducive to your style of writing. I DO, however, recommend not only a great online or hard copy thesaurus, AND the cheap books on Amazon that are thesauri of emotions, actions, writing prompts, etc. When I've gotten stuck, I've often looked through these for other descriptive words. Even if they weren't as exhaustive as I'd have liked, they were cheap on Kindle and words they associated with the one I'd already been using triggered other words in my head, other turns of phrases, or gave me something else to type into my thesaurus search engine that did end up in a result.
4) Readers Need to Feel It - One of the things I find most conducive to being pulled into a story, something my favorite authors do well, is give me enough of the physical environment or the character's physical interactions with objects or other people to feel it. This doesn't conflict with the exhaustive description problem. All it needs to take is one word or one short phrase about the way something feels in order to trigger sense memory in a reader. Avoiding -ly words here is, again, tricky. But, if you rely on verbs or strong descriptive words than the prose shouldn't get too flowery or fluffy. An object on fire might glow red hot rather than hotly, it might give off waves of heat, or shoot pain through a character's hand when they grab it. Someone's gaze might be flat and cold, guarded and unreadable, or eyes narrowed with suspicion, rather than coldly or suspiciously. A character's stomach might clench, instead of using any kind of phrase with the word "anxiously."
5) Characters Are People, and People Are Complicated - I found through the various revisions and rewrites of the second novel that the characters were too one-dimensional. They needed to react to things beyond be in constant panic over the big stuff. Here it is good to keep in mind at least three levels of the story: Global, regional, and local; or however you want to think of it. The global sense will be in terms of the entire story, or their general mindset. The regional will be related to multiple scenes, perhaps related to a timeframe, and maybe best expressed in relation to a plot thread. The local will be for each interaction or scene. There can be more levels than that, I'm sure, but that's a place to start. I tend to like a plot that has unexpected twists, which require subplots and sub-subplots. Each character interaction has a subtext. Each conversation includes the conversation that is, the conversation that was, the conversation that will be, and the conversation that is being avoided. Issues from the character's childhood might play a role in specific situations. Triggered memories might come up. They're skills or powers may be linked to something that affects their behavior or reactions. Map all these out via notes or analysis. None of this should be left up to chance.
I suppose that's enough to think about for now, but I'll post a list of the resources I use and books I recommend soon.
