The question I’m always asking is: how all the elements of “good” structure blend together as a whole to deliver a memorable story?

It won’t matter so much if your spelling, punctuation, and grammar are perfect (although this is obviously very important—but later!) if your reader doesn’t get past the first chapter!

Here are ten areas to consider when working with big-picture, early structural feedback—and hopefully some tips to help you in the drafting and revision process.

• Characters: Top to toe, physical descriptions, ages, job, and all the usual details you can imagine, and sometimes many of these won’t make it to the page. And that’s okay, but the author should have a good handle on these details.
  
  As a general rule, the more central the character to the story, the more the author needs to know. Once the surface level details are down, then it’s time to go deeper. It helps for characters to have a flaw or a wound that is something in their past they hold on to or struggle with (and they might not actually be aware of it!) but it will be a crucial part of the character arc because if they can overcome it, then they have changed and grown.
  
  Not all queer fiction has a happy ending though, and it might be that the character learns how to manage or deal with the issue/s, and that could lend itself to a more realistic portrayal. A lot depends on the tone, genre, or style of the author.
  
  
• Setting: At the developmental edit level, we’ll be looking at if the places, spaces, and locations for your story are serving more than just background decoration for the action.
  
  Sometimes an author will have avoided too much setting detail for fear of info dumping on the reader, but carefully selected details in a room can reveal a great deal about a character’s current state of mind.
  
  Are they organised, neat, and clean but falling apart inside, or are they messy but merrily happy? Objects scattered about the space can also reveal key details.
  What do they keep or throw away?
  What memories or resentments are brought forward when they spend time somewhere or with something?
  
  We all know about the stormy night when our character is feeling down, but how can setting be taken further—for example, deciding to spend money on their apartment decoration for once because now they feel rooted and secure instead of lost and on edge as they were at the novel opening.
  
  
• Plot: Sometimes seen as separate to character, but they really exist together because actions, choices, and decisions the character makes should, in a progressive cause and effect way, allow us to get to know the MC and also provide obstacles for them to overcome. How they overcome, attempt to overcome, or fail to overcome those obstacles is basically the plot!
  
  Motivations, cause and effect, and grounding the character’s actions in their own personal struggles is so important to a compelling plot, so I’m often advising authors to find something that is most challenging to that particular character because of who they are as people—not just what might feel like a unique or random barrier for the character to overcome.
  
  
• Openings / Endings are where novels are won and lost. A touch dramatic, but the hook and early pages are so important for setting the scene. We’ve all read novels where people said “once it gets going it’s good” or “it’s a slow starter,” so our job at the early draft stage is to analyse why the start is slow and see what can be reduced to get as close to the inciting incident or story question event, and grab our reader’s attention so they stick with us.
  
  On the flip side, our ending should meet our vision as authors, and we need to think about what emotional resonance and impact we leave the reader with. Obviously, in a romance we want a HEA, but do we want it to be bittersweet, inspirational, hopeful, and what additional layers can we add to really pack a punch? I’m often suggesting authors look at their first and final three chapters to see how they echo and reflect each other. Often the answer is there but it needs to be brought forward.
  
  
• Dialogue has four purposes: evoke character, advance the plot, provide exposition, and raise stakes and tension, so what we don’t want is filler, chats about the weather, and long paragraphs of monologue.
  
  Dialogue can be a notorious place for info dumping and “as you know, Bob” conversations. It’s always worth checking on dialogue tags and action beats around the spoken words themselves, because sometimes if it needs a “he shouted, angrily” it might mean the words themselves can be revised to carry the meaning in a stronger way.
  
  
• Stakes are juicy, but we can’t eat them. They are really what the character faces losing (or gaining!) should they not reach their novel, chapter, or scene goal. The goal should really matter to them, and raising the stakes, in a realistic way, can be a great way to pull the reader closer and help them empathise with your character.
  
  
• Pacing stems from the idea of scenes and sequels—action and reaction, as it’s sometimes called. This, in its simplest form, means the shorter the sequels or the moments where the characters react, the faster the pace. A story with all action, action, action, and then a brief reaction moment will feel much pacier than a story where the character reflects, thinks, and makes decisions about everything in between the main moments of the scene.
  
  Scene structure can feel complex at first, and sometimes there is subtext at play and everything isn’t spelled out, but if something feels off about a scene, it’s worth taking that step back and looking with a wide lens.
  
  
• Tension and conflict start at our inciting incident (when something in the character’s normal world changes for the first time), and then the climax is ultimately where the main story conflict is resolved. Sounds simple, right?
  
  Conflict often unfolds in a progressive way, meaning things get harder and harder for our poor MC before they must confront any final issues (internal and external), and this gives readers that satisfying feeling of seeing them struggle but believing in and connecting with the journey they’ve been on.
  
  Linked to character and plot, as we talked about earlier, internal and external aspects both come into play, and often my suggestion here is taking each character out and tracking their character and conflict arc to see how it rises—or doesn’t—and where it intersects with other characters.
  
  
• Surprise/suspense both can be useful for the writer, and the balance between something coming out of nowhere (surprise!) and laying hints and the foundations early on for something bad that’s going to happen to our characters takes time, skill, and, once again, taking a wide-angled look at the novel structure as a whole.
  
  Often I’m looking at what clues or hints have been dropped, and ensuring they are not too obvious, before these turning point moments, and working with the author to amplify the uneasy feeling for the reader.
  
  
• Theme/message/reader takeaway. This is one of my favourite aspects to consider because we get to tweak and analyse the reader experience. We all want a romance to be about love and finding their people, but how deep or gently do you want the reader to feel it?
  
  For a structural edit, it’s so important for me to speak with the author about their intentions and vision for the novel, and to analyse if the resulting story meets those emotional touchpoints.
  

I offer big-picture edits in a couple of ways: a full developmental edit, or a manuscript evaluation. The difference is where you receive feedback (on the manuscript or editorial report) and how confident you feel in taking the feedback and making changes.

Need more help? Working in a new genre?
A full developmental edit would be the best choice.

Not your first time at the rodeo, but you need some pointers?
A manuscript evaluation should provide enough detailed feedback for you to revise.

For a deeper dive into me, my editing, and author coaching services, you can read more here: https://sjkeir.com/faq/

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay