I Was Asked to Edit?

Once you join a writers’ community, you quickly learn it’s like a village. You can get a lot of help, but only if you are willing to provide help too. 

But Huckleberry, what do I know about editing? I can barely get my cool ideas down on paper in a coherent way! If it weren’t for my friends Angela and Wes I’d look a COMPLETE fool!

Trust me, this is how I felt too. There is a term for this: imposter syndrome. I didn’t believe I had the credentials to tell people with an English degree that their writing needed work. I am a dyslexic with a mathematical background. Who am I to tell them their writing isn’t perfect? 

This took me a while. I’ve always been an avid reader. I knew when a story was missing pieces, or there were loose ends that needed wrapping up. My confidence grew in messenger and text messages. Sitting down and discussing their work with the writer was scary at first, but more times than not it resulted in their appreciation. 

In the end, all writers want to share a good story. We have this world in our head, and we sometimes don’t communicate it as well as we wish. Having a reader tell us that something doesn’t make sense just lets us know we need to fill in those missing pieces. It’s better to be told early on in the process when the fixes are possible than finding out at the end. 

When a friend or a critique partner asks for you to read their writing, just be honest with them. Comment on things that don’t make sense, such as missing plot points. Let them know when you want more: more emotion, more detail. I usually miss out on that last one in my initial draft. My critique partners ask me to add more detail all the time. In contrast, I tell them to pull back on detail because they can go on forever.

Let your partner know if they’ve “told” you something that they could “show” instead by using character actions or other cues like dialogue. Often showing is more interesting and engaging, there is an example below. It pulls the reader in. Also, look for repeated words. I have had several words I’ve caught myself over using. I won’t let you know, or you’ll look for them in my writing, and I don’t need that pressure!

You aren’t there just to smooth out the pokey parts, either. Let the writer know if what you read made you laugh or smile. If what they wrote was good. Everyone wants to know what they did well. 

In the end, you’re there to partner up and share in the ride. The goal is to grow the good, and help smooth out the rough spots every writer has. 

Telling: I sat in the tree, afraid of what would happen next.

Showing: Sitting in the tree, my heart began to beat, I could barely breath around the lump forming in the back of my throat, my mind had gone blank. What had Dad told me to do when I was attacked? Where had everyone gone? Could I do this alone?