Be Happy When Your Work Gets Edited

Your editor is your friend — and you never see your own faults

You spend hours, maybe even days, writing your story. You are excited to submit it to your favorite publication. You can’t wait to read your published work.

You receive an email saying your work is live. You stop everything you are doing to check. But to your surprise, you are disappointed at the work you are reading.

This is not my work, you say. That’s not even my voice. What happened? Your work has been edited heavily and it doesn’t feel good at all. You’re upset.

I've been there. As a writer, I know how it feels to lose something you put so much effort into. Having your work edited is not fun.

But having your work edited isn’t intended to hurt you. It’s never to disappoint you. It’s to help, if you can change your perspective and look for the hidden benefits of having your work read by someone looking to make it better.

Given two options which would you go for?

• Would you rather have your article heavily edited but ends up getting read by a lot of people because the article reads and sounds better?
• Or you would rather have your work not edited, filled with fluff, unnecessary adverbs, filler words, and plain boring phrases that bore your readers so much they click out of your article?

I don't know about you, but I would always go with the first option.

Choosing a publication you trust is important in making this decision. Before I consider a publication, I read and study everything written by the owner and editors. If I love their work and see they are doing great, I can trust them with my work.

If I’m disappointed in what I find, like errors in articles that have been published by them, I can’t trust them with my work. I find a different one that works better for me.

Your Editor is Your Friend

Your editor is not the enemy. Your editor doesn’t want to hurt your writing. The real enemy is unnecessary filler words and boring phrases. That’s what hurts you.

If an editor you trust does you a favor and removes them to improve your writing, you should be thankful. After all, not all editors actually take the time to edit your work. Appreciate the ones who do.

Your writing should always be edited. Whether it’s using the Grammarly app and having your editor makes final edits as they see fit for their publication or hiring an editor to help you with your editing needs.

Editing is a normal part of the writing process, one that shouldn’t be skipped.

It’s never fun having your work stripped naked. It sucks. It makes you feel inadequate, but it is necessary. It has to happen to improve as a writer. It is what pushes you to write better, faster, and improve your writing skills.

Here is how to deal when your published article doesn’t look or sound like you:

Remain a professional

The last thing you want to do is email your editor angrily seeking explanations as to why your work has been heavily edited. Most publications have guidelines and best practices they expect everybody to follow.

And most of the time, if you take the time to thoroughly read and study some of the work previously published, you will know what they want, how they format and you will also catch the voice of the publication.

Each publication has a voice of its own and you should always match it. This is not to say change who you are as a person. It means to do what the publication requires to get accepted.

Calmly ask the editor to explain why those changes were made. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll find your editor has the time, patience, and teaching skills to help you understand why the changes were necessary.

An editor like that is an asset to your writing career. They become your mentor and your editor. You’ll improve with every bit of feedback you’re given. Take the opportunity and learn all you can from them.

Never make threats

As frustrating as it is to have your work edited to the point you don’t recognize it, never ruin your reputation by making any kind of threats. Never tell an editor you will remove your work or remove yourself as a writer.

Unless you are the best writer out there, which you aren’t yet because your work requires heavy editing, they won’t miss you when you’re gone. Your editor does you a favor by editing your work and giving you the much-needed exposure.

Never tell your editor not to edit your work, even if you are an editor yourself. If you are an editor, your work won’t need heavy editing.

Learn from those who don't edit

Not every editor is an ideal mentor. They may be too busy to sit down and edit every piece they receive to the point they publish typos in headings. They may be too busy to explain the changes to you, or they may make changes that you truly hate without saying a word.

You can learn from an editor who won’t help you improve. Avoid arguing with your editor about things they’ve edited unless they’ve purposefully changed the facts of your story. That is never OK.

An editor’s job is to edit and some will do their jobs. You will also learn others don’t and that makes you appreciate those who do. Focus on how you can improve your writing skills.

Learn the publication’s vision

If your work has been heavily edited, your work may not have been in alignment with the objectives of the publication. Carefully analyze the changes. What did the editor edit? Unnecessary words? Beating around the bush? Over explaining things? You’ll see the reasons for your editor’s decisions.

Take the time to study a publication. Read writing by the owner and editors. Make an attempt to understand what a publication is about. Do they want short, honest, conversational, and straight to the point articles? Or otherwise?

If you find your introduction and closing paragraphs are changed, they may be aiming for stronger reader engagement. Figure out the tactics they use.

If paragraphs are reshuffled, learn their structure, and apply them in articles you want to submit to them. They may want facts before opinions.

How simple are their vocabulary and structure? Many editors have a target audience and other readability requirements to consider. If they’re editing long, confusing words and sentences for short, simple ones, you may need to adjust your writing to match.

The more you write for an editor, the more experience you gain in meeting their needs.

Improve your writing skills

When you write and edit your own work, it’s easy to miss certain things because we can’t always catch our own errors and see our imperfections. We need a fresh set of eyes to spot those mistakes. The person who helps you see is not the enemy.

If you constantly work with the same editor, you will learn to read your editor’s mind. Instead of writing things they’ll end up changing, predict the changes, and make them yourself before submitting.

Almost every freelance writer has had their work changed by an editor beyond recognition. Think of it as a learning experience and an opportunity to improve your writing and editing skills. There is one thing almost every editor loves: a writer who can learn to adapt to change and improve in the process.

Bottom Line

It’s natural to feel disappointed at a heavy edit. It’s OK but at the end of the day, a good editor shines a light on your writing. They want to make your writing stronger and help you improve.

Writers and editors have one common goal: to produce the best work possible. It is tempting to get defensive and lose your cool as a writer but an editor’s work is not an indicator of your worth, intelligence, or knowledge as a writer. A good editor makes sure to convey that at all times when you ask for an explanation.

An unavailable editor and a wounded writer is the worst combination. When a writer gets feedback from an editor, they create a smooth and strong relationship. When a writer and a trusted editor team up, magic happens.

For further reading: