I'm writing a book but now that I have seen this explanation I feel like I do not know if I'm on the right path. I never considered all that you are explaining right now. I'm an amateur and I'm writing my first book. Moreover, English is not my native language but I have decided to write using it as a way to improve my writing skills. I do not know if I will be good but at least I want to try. I hope I can follow these points that you explain right now to improve the story and characters even more but I can see now how difficult it is to properly improve a story to a certain level.
Amazing I find somebody as crazy as I am for I did the same. Started to write a story as a writing excessive for my English class and ended up with a whole novel. Now, I'm in the self-editing stage of my first draft. By the way, this channel is great.