Writers-in-Residence: It’s About the Work (XXL) 3/3

...continued

Choosing what to send, I learned, also takes proper evaluation through scrutiny. Writers and editors tell me that it can be frustrating to receive what is obviously a first draft, instead of a polished piece.

Continuing this process has taught me to look more critically at my own work, to distance myself from the work and read with an objective, editorial eye before I send it out as well as afterwards.

One of the tricks I use is to make-believe I am being graded on the work. In aiming for an A+ my lazy writer proofreads with care while the editor in me thinks about the structure and overall flow. I now use this same trick when submitting poems and fiction work for publication.

In receiving feedback, I prefer written responses. Since written evaluations have a longer life span, than the verbal variety, I can revisit the piece when I run into stumbling blocks during revisions.

Usually, I read the feedback then put the pages away. I think about the feedback, make notes, and after a week or more, I retrieve the pages and re-read the analysis. Then I repeat the process. Only then am I ready to make revisions.

From this vantage point, I’ve been able to find a new way of dealing with weaknesses, which tend to fall away, leaving the best work standing. Following this process time after time has made my writing stronger and me a stronger writer.

These experiences have also been satisfying for a few other reasons: the one-on-one nature of the relationship, the explicit aspects of written feedback, and the forethought of which pieces to send, and the analyzing required beforehand (which usually results in rewriting before I submit work.)

Through their own graciousness, the writers and editors I’ve worked with have shown me how to respond to the work of others. Should that happen, I hope that I live up to the standard they set.