On being defensive when edited

Don't be that writer who can't take an edit

Few activities bring out bad behavior and hilariously predictable self-sabotage like being edited. Sure, there are some editors who won’t get you and who aren’t a good match for you, and that’s fine. But, sometimes you’ll feel defensive with great editors, and must use that as a signal to something greater.

If you wrote it and think it’s fine like it is and doesn’t need an edit, you’re probably not ready to edit nor be edited. If you wrote it and you’re in love with all of your words, you’re also probably not ready to edit, and you’re definitely not ready to be edited.

There’s a place we have to get to that is a messy intersection of self-trust to do decent if not good work + trust that we’ve put it in the hands of a good editor + belief that said editor might see the big picture of the story better than we can since we’ve sat with it for so long + simultaneous confidence and humility to be open to being edited + an ability to pick your battles and make your case if an edit comes through that you don’t like.

That last bit is really important. If you find yourself wanting to fight every edit, notice that. But, if you find yourself unable to defend why an edit doesn’t feel right, ruthlessly interrogate that in yourself and figure out why. Because you might not have been ready to put the story out in front of a reader yet. Or, you might believe an edit is supposed to be rough; instead consider that maybe some or all of it is actually quite good.

Becuse, somewhere, we each have to get to a place in which we not only love editing ourselves, but also love being edited: we don’t find ourselves feeling threatened by it, nor do we feel self-sabotaging behavior surface, but instead we see how the work was polished and made better because we were ready to stand back and let it be refined.