I had an article ready to go for a magazine a few days ago. I’d done my best writing it, but in my heart, I knew something essential was missing, probably at the start. Enter the editor, who made a simple comment about re-ordering. What would happen, the editor wondered, if the end, in slightly different form, were the beginning? Might that make a greater impact on the
reader? I played with that idea and found that it loosened me up so much I was also able to make the rest of the article much more effective. Finally, I achieved the alignment I wanted between what I wanted to say and what I was actually saying. Result: much stronger article. Without the editor’s comment, I would have produced an okay article, but one that would not totally satisfy either the reader or me as the writer. Now I can be truly proud when my article appears in print in a couple of months. Such is the inestimable value of an astute editor.