Teaching college writing students to edit the autobiographical writing of others has many advantages. Autobiographical materials, such as diaries, letters, or journals, are physically and psychologically accessible for students, and as editors they would be obliged to keep in mind appropriateness of language, tone, and simplicity or complexity of ideas for a particular audience. Once students have located them, the worth of the raw materials may be determined by the subject's prominence, personality, point of view, or historical time frame. The materials for a college-level paper need not be extensive, but should be sufficient to comprise a reasonably self-contained unit. If the emphasis is on the person, there should be enough diary entries, letters, or narratives to reveal typical or fascinating dimensions of the subject's personality, feelings, roles, and relationships. If the emphasis is on events or information content, the materials should constitute a relatively complete narrative sequence that describes a phenomenon, occurrence, encounter, or process. A student editor must also determine whether the material is written well enough to warrant editing, and if it is self-contained, that is, understandable without added background information or identification of places, people, or relationships. The most worthwhile aspect of editing autobiographical materials is that the student editors will have done original work with primary materials of potential interest to others, which, if done well, may be publishable in local or regional newspapers and journals. (HTH)