An open mind is a valuable thing

I always have this expectation that my clients will get defensive when I bring up touchy issues about their manuscripts. It's not easy telling someone they've written themselves into the manuscript, and that this mirror-character is unnecessary and could be removed without making any difference to the story.

Photo by Nic McPhee

I was buffeted with warnings from professors to take care when offering comments and critiques. Writers could be nasty, they said. They could ignore your comments because they don't like your tone. They could get down on themselves and give up. They could do any number of aggravating things if they thought you were being snotty or flippant.

But I haven't encountered any of these terrifying writers. All my clients have been open-minded and interested in improving their work. It might be that first-time authors are still unsure enough of themselves to be open to suggestions without a lot of bargaining. Or maybe I've just been lucky. In any event, I'm prepared for that unavoidable client who thinks being edited isn't so much a chance to improve than an opportunity to waste money on someone determined to blast their work with red pen.

So, to you writers considering being edited, I say keep an open mind. Maybe your editor has some good ideas, and maybe they don't. But refusing to even consider an option would be like closing the door in the face of opportunity.