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I was wondering if it would be useful to discuss tactics for editing and beta/crits, both from the point of view of writers looking for feedback on their work, and editors who are looking to hone their eyes or pass along critting methods they find work well. I know I was clueless about how to do a 'beyond the basics' thorough crit until I started taking creative writing courses, and the first time I joined a crit group that used a crit formula/guideline was an eye-opening experience as well.

We can probably agree on some basics - that useful feedback is generally the constructive kind, and you'll always make a writer happy when you point out the good bits as well as the bad. But beyond that, what kind of feedback do you find most helpful? How about most insulting/unhelpful? And for editors - care to share some secrets of the trade?

To get things started, some of the editing tactics I use:

Grammar/spelling: The old trick for this is to read the story out loud, and for spelling, you can even try backwards, the idea being to make it easier to focus on the details and also catch awkward sentences. Personally, I find people can become a little too reliant on the powers of the word processor. Spell check is a great tool, sure, but it's not foolproof. And I find the grammar check in MS Word so awful I've pretty much given up on it. (And don't get me started on the thesaurus - I can spot thesaurus misuse a mile away and it always makes me cringe)

Style: Overuse of passive voice is a big one and it takes a while to train yourself to see it. Seeking out the usage of the verb "to be" seems to be the best way to start, if anyone else has a good method let me know wink

First Impressions: this is one I got into the habit of with a crit group and find rather interesting. The idea is to do a quick read first and before you start nitpicking, jot down the first impressions that occur to you. This can give the writer a sense of what aspects of their story, good or bad, are going to stand out for a first-time reader.

Plot/Conflict: Conflicts are the heart of a good plot, so they're always a good place to start when examining the overall workings of a story.

Pacing: This is an important one that can sometimes be overlooked. If the conflicts are there but the story still seems boring or rushed, it's probably a pacing problem.

Characters: One of the fun parts of a crit for me is musing about characters. Sometimes it's nitty-gritty stuff - whether a character is acting consistently, etc., but from a writer's perspective, someone giving me even just their impressions of a character is kind of a thrill and can really help with toning down characters with annoying tics or fleshing out characters who are falling flat.

Dialogue: Dialogue is one of those things that can be invisible when it's working well, and hard to pin down problem-wise when it's not. This is another area I like to bring out the read-out-loud trick.

Setting & Description: The can be another one that's hard to pinpoint because so much depends on style, but problems I tend to notice most are 1) ungrounded scenes, where the characters just sort of float around in a blank haze 2) over-flowery or incredibly dense & detailed (but ultimately irrelevant) description and 3) passive description

Probably think of more later, but this post is already hideously long...

Very good points. I like the idea of reading it backwards. And I also like that you included that word processors don't always catch mistakes.

Ex: Dew knot trust you're computer too correct you miss takes.
I can find like six things in there...