How to Start Editing

RWrites

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I want to start editing and getting better at giving critiques. This is mainly so I can edit my own work, edit other people's work to help get better at writing, and because I'm not the best at editing. Any tips as to where to start?
 

Maggie Maxwell

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You've got at least two places right here:

1) Share Your Work. Find your favorite genre(s) and go to town on the recent posts. Even if your first crits are "I agree with [poster], and this needs a comma," it's a start, and you'll get better the more you do.

2) The Beta Readers forum. There's a stickied thread in there for volunteering to beta read. Post your information in there, and you may get someone interested in having their work critting/betaed.
 

Anna Iguana

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Share Your Work is also a great learning tool because you can read several people's edits for one piece of writing. Each of us approaches an edit a little differently. (I'd suggest posting your own feedback first, and only then reading what others have said, so you can be most help to the author as an independent opinion.)
 

Maryn

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I could write a book on critique, which turns into edits when it's my own work.

But the place to start depends on what your weaknesses as a writer are.

I urge you to jump in at the SYW board for any genre you read, even if you don't write it. Find something fairly recent, so you're not zombifying a post, and read it through. (Stop at the end. Do not read any other critiques.) What works? Do you like the title, tone, style, character descriptions, mood, setting, plot, vocabulary, vibe, etc.? Great, tell the author and use examples. We all need to know what we're good at.

What doesn't work? Tell the author with kindness and tact, explaining what your issue is, and use examples. We're not talking errors but weaknesses. Step back for the big picture. Was the character a trope, or too something to be believable? Is the plot stale with nothing new to add? Is there so little description that it's set in a white box rather than a place you can envision? Does the author tell us too much about characters' appearances down to their clothes and hair? Is there a coincidence you can't swallow that's vital for the plot to progress? Does the author tend to reiterate, use state-of-being verbs rather than something more lively, get downright wordy, insert his or her opinions, etc?

And last, does the work contain mistakes? Fix them, using a contrasting color. Oh, and while it's tempting, resist the urge to rewrite it the way you'd write it if it were yours, because guess what! It's not.

Maryn, who got better at critiques by doing several hundred
 

RWrites

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@MaggieMaxweel thank you, I'll check them out!

@Maryn this is such a helpful post! thanks so much for typing it out

AnnaIguana I haven't tried the SYW threads, but I will now
 

Maryn

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Well, you can't read my copy. I loaned it to someone in my former critique group, who passed it on to someone else, I don't even remember who, with my permission. When the group imploded, none of the survivors on my side of the crevasse had it.

But it's definitely worth reading. I should add it to my wish list.

Maryn, whose list is very, very long