Editing
At the heart and soul of
Everyone who writes an entry on the weekly topic - even "Just for Fun" entries - is invited to ask for editing by signing up on a checklist that is posted sometime between Wednesday and Saturday. Each person who requests edits will receive edits from two volunteers, who customize their approach to your preferences. Requesters can specify whether or not they want editing on grammar and technical writing, and they can specify from five different levels of content crit ranging from "No holds barred" to "I'm not comfortable with that this week".
If your edits aren't done right away, worry not. The community is powered by the generous hearts of volunteers, and sometimes we take a little time. The moderators keep track of everything that's going on with the community, however, and if your edit is not completed after a week or two, we'll make sure we find someone who can look at it, with no extra effort or attention needed on your part. The system is very organized!
Joining the Editing Team
When it comes to the editing team, the more the merrier. Even if you're only able to edit one piece each week, the efforts are appreciated and very welcome. The moderators of Brigits_Flame organize the editors on the team in the following tiers:
Full Time Editors- These editors are the real muscle of the team. They volunteer to edit as much as ten edits per week, although they rarely are assigned more than four. They're assigned the longest and most challenging edits, and I count on, and lean on them heaviest in times of need.
Part Time Editors- Also a very important part of the team, these editors have volunteered to take care of at least five edits apiece. These editors usually pick up the slack for the main editors and are an extremely valuable more more laid-back role in the community.
Special Cases- These editors are committed to a maximum load of less than five edits per week. We try to send them the less difficult edits, although sometimes they take challenging edits as well. They set their own individual rules for what how much they can take on, and they tend to be the most numerous of the editing team. Even special cases that can edit only one edit per week, however, are valuable, as they collectively help a lot and they offer a broad variety of new perspectives and pooled knowledge to our collective team.
Standby Editors- These editors usually don't get any edits at all, but if we have an especially difficult week assigning edits, as we do every couple months, we'll throw a couple their way to give a little more "breathing room" while constructing the editing post. These standby editors can be a lifesaver during these times, and like everyone else in the time, we're grateful to have them. Full-time, part-time, and special cases editors will sometimes temporarily switch themselves to this status if they need a break.
Catching Up- Any editor that is a week behind on their edits will be assigned no new edits on the following week and will be transferred to "catching up" status. If they do their edits, they move back to normal duty the following week. If not, we assign their edits to someone esle and move them to "On Vacation" until they let us know they'd like to continue to get new edits.
On Vacation- Sometimes, editors take a few weeks off for personal reasons, such as finals for school, medical reasons, or otherwise. When this happens, they are moved to "On Vacation" until the time when they said they can resume editing. Editors that have become permanently inactive are also moved to this status so we can maintain a record of our moderator notes on that editor should the rejoin the team in the future.
Editing Guidelines
What follows are some general guidelines to help our authors and editors navigate the maze of different editing levels. None of this is set in stone - if you have any requests for changes, additions, or omissions with these guidelines, let one of the mods know! We're all ears.
The examples included below were picked out by Lacombe as some examples of what might be considered exemplary edits. Practically speaking, not all our edits will be this long and detailed- some will be shorter, some will be much longer. These are here because the mods feel they help communicate exactly what we're trying to get across. Each editor here has a unique approach to what they do, and we value and respect that.
No holds barred! I want opinions, content crit, the works!
Even though we say "No holds barred!", we need to be inoffensive. When we go to edit someone's work, we're a guest in their LJ. "No holds barred" means that we have the freedom to give as long and as detailed an edit as we like, and they're expected to have a thick skin about it. Any HELPFUL ideas we have should be put out there- we don't need to worry about hurting people by going overboard. We've been invited to share opinions and fair but tough editorial comments. Pointing out strengths is just as important as identifying areas in need of improvement. We benefit from knowing what we're doing right. Please try to identify at least a few strengths.
lacombe offers two examples of his editing to show where the line may be found:
Good: http://balloonhat.livejournal.com/10200.html
Not So Good: http://one-time-pad.livejournal.com/3870.html?thread=17438#t17438"The difference is this: The first one gave a great deal of constructive, helpful criticism. I had a TON to say, and this might be discouraging and too much for some people. However, this person took it very well and it worked out well. In the second one, I'm making crit seemingly JUST to make criticism. I said almost nothing complimentary about a very strong piece and ended up offending."
Further good examples:
http://i-am-fusebox.livejournal.com/8904.html?thread=11208#t11208
http://13-stories.livejournal.com/4340.html?thread=19956#t19956
Yes, I'd like moderate content criticism.
Unless the entry is extremely long, a moderate edit shouldn't be much more than two or three comments long. Most writers are probably looking for something close to 50% positive feedback and 50% criticism. They didn't ask for an EASY edit, however, so let's make sure we leave in at least a few good pieces of criticism and that we give them something to chew on. Try to stay away from broad statements - let's get some quotes in there when we can and make sure they see exactly what we mean. (For example, if you mention that they have too many commas in place, quote these places for them.)
Examples:
http://firesign10.livejournal.com/499646.html?thread=1127358#t1127358
http://selkie-queen.livejournal.com/111558.html?thread=337862#t337862
Yes, but please be gentle!
For these, let's shoot for 65%/35% positive. People generally choose this when they're feeling a little shy, vulnerable or unconfident with their writing. They may be writing something very personal and would like someone to read it and share an opinion simply as a sounding board. We ARE here to edit, so we should do our best to give them some content criticism, but we need to be nice. Bring in personal pronouns in force, but use them in positive ways. "I loved..." "You really pulled me in with" etc. Check out the examples below; they're better explanation than any blurb could be.
Examples:
http://cookie-pixie.livejournal.com/412723.html?thread=1269043#t1269043
http://firesign10.livejournal.com/499646.html?thread=1127102#t1127102
http://tide-scrolls.livejournal.com/4425.html?thread=10313#t10313
General notes on editing:
Murphpolo13 sums up the general idea behind this well:
"The best kind of criticism is given by first highlighting a positive point and then gently suggesting improvements. I find it highly inappropriate when people dismiss ideas with a comment like "that's stupid," especially without explaining logically why something won't work or without suggesting an alternative. Beating the hell out of a dead horse is also a not so great way to go about giving good, constructive criticism. Make your point concisely and be done with it. Not only can it be embarrassing to work really hard on an idea and then have it shot down bluntly, but its completely humiliating when someone spends a million years detailing every flaw in your thinking."
It's always more helpful in the long run to give the author a bit of writing wisdom than just a list of corrections. Try to give them an idea that applies to the piece you're editing but is also general enough to be helpful for other things they might write - explain that sometimes, more is less, rather than simply saying, "You have too many adjectives here." The goal is overall improvement, and editors can be a huge part of that!