Wattpad 101: Your guide to the world of Wattpad

Editing 101

So you want to be an editor. That's cool. A lot of us want to get the practice of editing so that we can improve our own spelling and grammar mistakes. The best way to be able to fix your own mistakes is to correct them in someone else's writing.  

However, despite all of our best intentions, not everyone knows how to go about editing. It isn't even the grammar and the spelling that's the problem (although that's part of it). Some people just don't know what to look for. It's just a wall-o-text, and starting is often the hardest part.  

Here are some minor tips to help you on your way as a Wattpad editor. (Please note: these are for Wattpad editing, so if you're looking to edit as a professional, I won't be able to help you).  

1) Post in The Improve your Writing editors section - 

The first thing any starting editor needs to do is advertise their editing. You can declare what things you are willing to edit. You can ask for payment or lack thereof. I found out recently that you have to state a payment, so whether it's free or requires comments, you need to offer it.  

I also recommend that you mention what grade level/age you are. I think that's relevant to people looking for an editor. They want someone who can help them, and if you're in middle school, you may not be up to snuff editing a more complex work.  

2) Figure out how you want to edit - 

Basically, you can't copy text from Wattpad to edit it. That means your costumer is going to have to physically send you the file from which to edit from. I've found typically two ways to do this. They can either email you the file directly, in which you can edit the files and email them back. Or... you can have him host the files on google drive. In this case, you can edit the files in real time. The files stay in the owner's possession, you're just allowed to manipulate them for as long as he wants.  

The nice thing about word is that it has a review tab. It allows you to track the changes you make. Therefore, you can review someone else's work, make changes to your heart's desire, then send the file back to the owner. The owner can then look at the changes and agree to them or not based on personal choice.  

I do warn you, doing things this way exchanges personal information. Emails will give out your name sometimes, especially if it's tied to your Facebook account. I'd recommend make a unique email for Wattpad in order to do any service you want to offer. Another thing to watch out for is that when you make edits and changes in word, it will sometimes take down your name as well, pulling it from your word when you signed up/signed in. So be weary of that too.  

3) Use Spelling And Grammar check before your start and after you're done -  

I can't stress enough how often I've seen an edit that still had errors that word was catching. If you're depending purely on the little swizzle that appears under words when they are detected as wrong, be aware that word only shows those after it has refreshed a word. There are ways you can move on with an error and it won't add the swizzle.  

Also, once you've done all of your corrections, you might have accidently introduced your own spacing errors, so another once over never hurts.  

4) Use the "find" function -  

If you know there are common errors, just use the find function in word to locate them quickly. For example, most of us mess up there, they're, and their. So just use the find function and highlight all words of there, they're, and their, then check to make sure it is used correctly. You can do the same for its or it's. If this is someone whom you know makes the same mistake a lot, this is a quick way to clean it up and not miss a thing. I think a lot of people miss the opportunity to take advantage of this tool. You can also use the replace tool to save yourself some time. Need to change someone's name? Simple put the commonly misspelled name, then the correct name, and replace all.  

5) Fix spacing and dialogue -  

A lot of editors I've run into don't seem to be too concerned about dialogue. They tend to want to pretend it doesn't exist. However, it's probably one of the more important things to look at. More stories are about people. People are social. They talk. Sometimes, they talk a lot. Wall-o-dialogues. Improper quotations, and bad spacing can really bog down a work. You can often turn what looks like a complete mess into a well-organized writing piece simply by playing with paragraph spaces.  

6) Comment while you edit -  

Critiquers aren't given the same abilities you are. They can't copy and paste words. You are given a very unique opportunity to make comments from sentence to sentence. If you come across something you found particularly amusing or boring or unnecessary or great, make a comment about it. You're not a critiquer, but at the same time you are looking at this whole story fairly in depth. You are in a position where you can make specific feedback that will really help fine tune an author's writing. Use that opportunity and I can assure you they will greatly appreciate the effort.  

7) Read it backwards -  

Read the story backwards. If you start on the last sentence and move one up each time, you are only seeing the sentences by their pure grammatical correctness. A lot of errors get missed if you are reading the story. You tend not to see them, because you become too invested into what is happening.

Eventually, you need to read each paragraph as a whole to make sure the story works and the sentences complement each other properly, but if you find yourself missing a lot of errors, you can always fall back on the backwards method.

8) Know your grammar and/or look it up -

Grammar isn't finite. Believe it or not, two different editors will come up with two different edits. There is American style editing and there is English style editing. Each carry their own set of rules. Words are spelled different, color versus colour... and punctuation is different, comma before and or not in a list. However, even within a specific style, different editors feel differently about different subjects. The use of an interrobang (?!) for example.

That being said, don't assume you know all the rules. Always check, always look. Do research. That's where you will learn about things you never heard before. I've learn dozens of grammar rules that I previously didn't know. Most of it came from coming to that cross road and deciding to google it and do a little research. If you want to grow and become a more proficient writer, the first step is to explore the language and learn from it. Hopefully, editing is a way you can do that.