Since August, I have been sending out one of my favorite recent pieces, “The Shock of Self-Love” to publications. The piece has been rejected 17 times, sometimes with very nice notes, but I wasn’t getting any feedback. I assumed something wasn’t quite working, but didn’t know where to start.
Mary McBeth, editor of Memoir Magazine, was kind enough to let me know what wasn’t working for her. She liked everything about the piece except the ending, and it was finding that out that helped me transform the piece. I rewrote the ending, and made the piece much stronger. So now my piece has a home and will be published, and I have a better piece of writing going out into the world.
I love editorial feedback. There are similarities between editors and therapists, both help shape a narrative and provide external perspective. Having worked in corporate communications and marketing, I don’t mind being told to reshape my work. It’s just part of the process.
So what are the lessons? Persist, believe, keep going, be prepared for change and transformation. Writing is wonderful, but collaboration is transformative.