Comments on: Why Having An Editor Rip Apart Your Writing Is a Blessing In Disguise

By: Douglas Reilly

Douglas Reilly — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 21:39:29 +0000

I’m glad to hear that you were able to learn from the experience and not become discouraged by it. As I begin my internship, as well as a few freelance projects, I submitted my initial work with confidence and was surprised to see some of it returned with numerous edits. After being exposed to it, I hope you are able to realize that it is not personal. I have worked with and met people that too often do. As you mentioned, the supervisor has to keep the best interest of the client / publication in mind and occasionally, our first offerings are not what they had hoped for. It gets easier the more you do and it sounds like you have the right outlook. Best of luck as you continue on writing.

By: Drew Carfara

Drew Carfara — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 18:28:43 +0000

It’s awesome to see such a positive outlook on this experience, Rebecca. While it didn’t happen with my current internship, I can still remember back to my first one when my supervisor absolutely tore apart everything I had written — with a red pen! Just like you, this experience motivated me to really understand my writing on a different level and really get behind the emotion and tone of the piece. I’ll leave you with something a former boss had told me. He said: “If it doesn’t work, get rid of it” While it doesn’t mean you should just get lazy and scrap something right away, it helps to know that there is a time to start fresh with your writing and really find what works best for the piece. Best of luck with the rest of your internship!

By: Olivia Mulder

Olivia Mulder — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 20:18:40 +0000

I can relate to everything you’re saying here Rebecca. Although, I’m interning at a social media marketing company, which means writing much, much shorter copy than in the editorial world. Even so, I know the struggle of nailing that perfect headline, and having my work torn apart by an editor. On the bright side, I’ve found that my initial failures made the later success more rewarding. Good luck with the rest of your internship!