I learned quite a bit about editing. When I was writing "stories" for myself and friends, which consisted mainly of scenes or developing problems for the characters to overcome, I worried little about pacing, arrangement, and endings. They say that if you know the beginning and ending of a plot, the rest will fall into place. However, I was writing just "middle" parts! Plotting out a logical or enjoyable story from beginning to end really changed how I wrote the next three books (the last of which is still being finished.) I had to find connection points from one book to the other and define a rhythm for the action.
It's great to see you here! YAY! I've found AllAuthor to be a great resource. My favorite of these author assistance websites I've found so far, at least the way I like doing things.
When one writes, even fiction of any genre, one digs into past experiences, emotions both tapped and untapped, as well as empathizing with each character in order to understand them. We use parts of ourselves and don't ever let any critic tell you otherwise. Especially genres such as fantasy and science fiction have not always been treated as "real" writing, but it is. For any aspiring writers, I would say: Write the story you want to read. Remember to rest and not beat yourself up when you hit a dry spell. Creation takes willpower, but also time and patience.
