Read on Twitter
One of the most useful metrics I've developed for revising as an agent isnt "is this good" (which is largely useless beyond the point of coherence because all my authors are good and writing is subjective), but "would I still be reading if I didnt have to?" #amagenting
Follow-up question, where and why would I have stopped? Whats the point at which the potential reader, leaning against the shelf of their local indie and deciding where to spend their money, would walk away? Ideally, after they bought it and brought it home, not pg 6.
Because I work in commercial fiction, I ask, is this scene doing something MORE than moving me from point A to point B? Is it enticing me to read not only the end of the scene but the next chapter? and the next?
Is it keeping me engaged by dropping little hints and clues about where we're going, while hiding the real seeds in plain sight? (I like to think I'm smarter than books, and my absolute delight is when I'm proved wrong)
Revisions are always tricky. How do I guide an author so I'm not speaking over their voice, but I can articulate problems in such a way that they see opportunity? (Because all revising is, for me, exploiting opportunities the author already created)
These questions are useful because they're genre-sensitive, not about "value", and point to their own feedback. If your writing is gorgeous but the character hasnt moved in 45 pages, it might not be bad but it's a bad thriller, and the feedback is that your character is inactive
