triangleareafreelancers.org Blog

On editors, good and bad

I’ve worked with dozens of editors over the course of my writing career, and likely will work with dozens more before I push the send button for the final time.

I’ve had great editors, good editors, mediocre editors and some truly bad editors. Of the latter group (thankfully small in number), the one that comes to mind most vividly is the female editor of a popular men’s magazine who accused me of ‘falling in love’ with one of my sources because that individual had received the lion’s share of words in an article. I gently explained that said source was prominently featured because he was the primary focus of the feature, but this editor would have none of it. We went round and round for a while, and by the time we were done I had found the experience so unpleasant that I simply decided not to write for her anymore. (She did run the article, I’m happy to say.)

Later, I found out from others within the organization that this editor was a dominatrix in her personal life, and crazy to boot. A two-fer! Luckily, she didn’t last very long in that editorial position and I soon returned to the fold under a nicer, less insane individual.

A good editor is one who shepherds her flock in a positive, productive, understanding way. She knows what she wants, is clear and concise when making assignments, easy to communicate with and willing to work with her writers to the mutual benefit of both parties.

If you serve under one of these, consider yourself the luckiest freelancer in the room.

A bad editor (aside from possibly being a dominatrix and/or insane) is wishy-washy when it comes to making decisions, difficult to communicate with, often self-serving and underworks or overworks the articles that cross her desk.

If you serve under one of these, you have to ask yourself if the money is worth the aggravation.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s easy to fall in love with an editor. I’ve developed mad crushes on several editors over the years because they were so wonderful to work with.

From my experience, you’ve probably crossed the line if most of your conversations are about personal matters rather than work; you find yourself thinking, “she hasn’t called today; I hope she isn’t mad at me”; you send her a card on Valentine’s Day or, after accepting a really great assignment, you impulsively propose — despite the fact that you’re already married.

It’s okay to have a friendly, social relationship with an editor. A certain degree of camaraderie makes it easier to land assignments and work together to fine-tune your articles. But it’s important to keep in mind that, at the end of the day, yours is a business relationship.

So try to keep the stalking to a minimum.

– Don

Why I do it

I have to write. It’s in my blood. When I can’t write, such as when I’m sick or on vacation, I actually start to feel depressed. I blame my grandfather for this. He, too, was a journalist, working on a variety of local and daily newspapers before finally retiring as a city desk editor with the New York Daily News. He loved to write, and apparently he passed those genes down to me.

Aside from a brief period in junior high school when I thought I might want to be a veterinarian, writing has been my sole pursuit. I wrote for the school papers in junior high school, high school and college, and in high school I also wrote amazingly fanciful action stories featuring my friends, just for the fun of it.

I’m lucky to have found a certain measure of success as a writer because, frankly, I’m completely unqualified to do anything else. I have no idea what I’d be doing now if I wasn’t a professional writer. Wearing a paper hat and asking people if they want fries with their burger, I imagine. It’s actually kind of frightening to ponder, so I won’t.

I intend to use my first 30 days on this blog to discuss all manner of writing stuff — the good, the bad and the ugly. Some of it will be fun and funny. Some of it will be educational. And some of it will be so frightening you’ll question your own decision to be a writer.

But all of it will be true, and all of it will come from the heart. So fasten your seatbelt – this trip is just getting started.

– Don

Hello world!

My name is John V. Wood, and I’m the webmaster of this little venture. I’ve been a member of TAF since August of 2005, and I can honestly say this group has changed my life.

I went from being a writer who just talked about writing, to actually becoming a working freelance writer.

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