Growing Pains
I’m feeling betrayed, so just for today I need to digress from my usual subject matter. About a month ago, I landed my first article in a national magazine. I worked hard on my little 250 word piece. I was getting paid $1 a word after all and this piece was my national debut. Well I turned that piece in and it was full of rhythm and pep and I was really proud. When I was asked to revise I understood, but when I read the final edited piece it looked nothing like me. Sure it was my subject matter, but my voice was gone, and my rhythm was gone. I had been hacked. And now I’m wondering if I’m being too sensitive. Is this normal? Is this what I should expect as new-bee in this industry?
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I am a translator, so it's not quite the same, but I know what you're saying. I think it's really a matter of doing it enough times that you get used to how things work and know what to expect. Same with my translations - sometimes I'll do a tiny 200 word piece (which I think is perfect) and it will come back with a million corrections, and other times I'll take a lot of creative liberties with a longer piece and get no complaints back at all. Just remember - the writing isn't you. They're not criticizing you. They needed an article for something and they probably had a preconceived idea about how it should look. Just keep doing it and over time you'll get used to how it is. You'll learn when it's OK to just bash something out because you know they're going to edit it to shreds anyway, and when to go to town with your own "voice" because you know the editor has a light touch.
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