How to Be a Writer Editors Want to Work With Again

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Editors can teach us a lot of valuable lessons about good writing. They are the gatekeepers, generating story ideas, fielding pitches, and making our stories read better. In this episode, Shannon Palus gives us insight into what makes a successful editor and what they look for when finding writers.

Shannon is a senior editor at Slate magazine and has spent much of her career focused on writing and editing health and science stories.

She talks about how she molded her journalism career from her science background, and how she believes specializing has helped propel her career. She also details the makings of a good pitch, how to come up with winning story ideas, and the secrets to writing compelling personal essays.

Plus, Shannon shares her opinion on journalists in the influencer age and how social media affects the industry.

 

Some noteable excerpts from our interview:

  • [15:44-16:01] “I think that the whole ‘write for exposure’ thing, justifiably, gets a really bad rep, but the thing is: sometimes you can make the decision to write for exposure. Don't let an editor tell you you're writing for exposure, make that as a pragmatic choice on your end.”

  • [22:03-22:30] “If I ask a question in a comment or ask for a change, writers who totally ignore the ones that they don't agree with, I can't work with again, because I feel like that's the opposite of communicative. If you don't agree with something that an editor is saying, just reply to the comment or say, ‘Hey, can we hop on the phone quickly?’ to resolve the issue.”

  • [26:12-26:40] “A good editor isn't too harsh. I'm a big fan of: the editor and the writer are collaborating together on a piece. I think editors can kind of slip into criticism mode too quickly. I have pretty thin skin as a person, which is like—being in a creative field can be kind of rough.”

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