on-writing-well

Write as Well as You Can 293
piece has arrived, reading it with reasonable speed, telling the
writer whether its O.K., returning it immediately if its not,
working supportively with the writer if the piece needs changes,
sending the writer galley proofs, seeing that the writer gets paid
promptly. Writers are vulnerable enough without being put
through the repeated indignities of calling to learn the status of
their article and to beg for their money.
The prevailing notion is that such "courtesies" are merely
frills and can therefore be dismissed. On the contrary, they are
organic to the craft. They are the code of honor that anchors the
whole enterprise, and editors who forget them are toying with
nothing less than the writers fundamental rights.
This arrogance is at its most injurious when an editor goes
beyond changes of style or structure and enters the sacred realm
of content. I often hear freelance writers say, "When I got the
magazine I looked for my article and I didn't even recognize it.
They had written a whole new lead and had me saying things
that aren't what I believe." That's the cardinal sin—tampering
with a writers opinions. But editors will do what writers allow
them to do, especially if time is short. Writers conspire in their
own humiliation, allowing their piece to be rewritten by an editor
to serve his own purposes. With every surrender they
remind editors that they can be treated like hired help.
But finally the purposes that writers serve must be their own.
What you write is yours and nobody else's. Take your talent as
far as you can and guard it with your life. Only you know how
far that is; no editor knows. Writing well means believing in your
writing and believing in yourself, taking risks, daring to be different,
pushing yourself to excel. You will write only as well as
you make yourself write.
My favorite definition of a careful writer comes from Joe
DiMaggio, though he didn't know that was what he was defining.
DiMaggio was the greatest player I ever saw, and nobody
looked more relaxed. He covered vast distances in the outfield,