Edited!

Edited!

Yesterday I had a freelance piece returned to me with some editing notes and the request to expand and clarify some points. The accompanying note felt a tad trepidatious* as if they weren't sure how I was going to respond to comments like that. The truth is that I LOVE feedback, and in the end I was far happier with the expanded piece than I was with the original one.

People always seem afraid to critique each other, and I am constantly befuddled by that instinct. In my day job as a copywriter I would rather be told how to strengthen my work than have something sub par slip by because someone was afriad of hurting my feelings with their opinion. When you write for a living you can't allow your ego to expand beyond the initial creative burst, anything after that has to be met with an open mind with the understanding that feedback is good.

I began my higher education as an art major, and one of the reasons I changed my major early on was because I couldn't handle the namby-pampby critique sessions dominated by the soft spoken, "The thing I really like about your piece is..." I was far more interested in what was wrong with my piece and what they though I could strengthen or work on, but people were so concerned they might hurt someone's feelings that sort of conversation very rarely happened.

So folks, if you want to write for a living my advice is this: let the people around you know that you want their feedback and constructive input will never hurt your feelings, it will only make your work stronger.

*I'm of the mind that "trepidatious" IS a word, but I realize there's a debate around that subject.