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New writers sometimes approach editing in the same way they would ask a loved one to help choose a color for the living room. They prepare for the inevitable assault against their own carefully thought out choices, and ready a defense to shoot down the requested suggestions. If you’re considering offering your stories to the public, you’ve undoubtedly read many times over that editing is a must.
Well, it is.
After I received three short stories from editing, I’m amazed at the simple things I missed. From spelling and usage errors that I would surely spot after publishing, to phrasing that was a tad awkward, but clearer after being edited.
It’s more than a little scary to think of the kinds of things a structural edit will reveal in longer forms of writing. I’ll face that challenge next. The point is, whatever ambivalence you feel toward editing, get over it! The writer’s ego is like tomato skin, but it’s better to suffer a few bruises than be tossed into the bin with the rest of the rotten tomatoes.