A Writer Has To Be Flexible

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A Writer Has To Be Flexible

By Amanda Baker
July 5, 2007

I write this article with full knowledge that it is not going to be the PC thing on this site. But who cares! Not me, I am just going to write my opinion like I always do and always have.

I have read a few rebuttals, and other articles about people not liking the new editor, and they don’t seem to appreciate that the editor actually does his job; he edits.

Oh my god, what a shock! An editor doing his job!

First, as a previously published author, I must point out a few things that seem to escape many other potential authors on this site. It is the JOB of the editor to make our work more understandable to the reader. As writers, we write for the privilege to be read. I think some people on this site have forgotten this--or just ignore it.

Second, if you don't want your prose edited, and that means checked for grammar and content, then as our editor wrote recently: why do you even write? As a writer, I want my work to be read. Call it a huge ego thing if you like, but I know that if my work cannot be understood, content-wise or grammar-wise (I know… I don't have the best grammar on this site, so please don't remind me!), I would have no career as a writer.

Third, I actually hope to be edited. I know from working with RJ's eBooks, when I was published, that an author needs to rewrite. You, as a writer, cannot be married to your prose. A writer has to be flexible. Do you think Anne Rice, Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Piers Anthony, Anne Rule etc. etc. etc… don't use an editor?

A writer needs to have patience with the editor, and the editor's (often biased) opinions. Remember it is his JOB to make sure there are readers, and that the work the reader's read is comprehensible.

I am currently pregnant, and taking care of a one year old, so my contributions on this site have been limited to what I can accomplish in between appointments and naps. I have also done something that I think was kinda cool three months ago: I called Harlequin to see if they would be interested in me, the previously published author. They were (!) and they encouraged me to submit both of my previously published romance novels. The man I spoke with at Harlequin also encouraged me to write a third romance Novel -- a new one -- and submit it. I did and I now have three books waiting to be rejected or accepted.

I don't think I would have had the confidence to call Harlequin directly if not for U-K. This place is great for learning about writing, and for getting feedback from readers. A short while ago, this kind of feedback resulted in my husband getting EMI, Extra Military Instruction, because I wrote an article called SODA=SHOTS. The Diabetes Association of America, and another organization wanted me to write an apology to children with Type I diabetes, because in their humble opinion I misrepresented how people acquire this disease. That was not a fun time for me, but it proved that this site has teeth, and that we columnists can influence our readers.

I am glad, and sad, that people are choosing to leave this site. The people who departed could be great writers some day, but they will never be if they are unwilling to submit to an editor. You can't write and get published without an editor.

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About the author: Amanda Baker is a long time contributor of Useless Knowledge.

Email: amaycatbaker@yahoo.com

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