The Craft of Changing the Work

I have been intermittently chatting with a friend of mine back in Seattle who is a writer. I have a handful of friends who are writers, and over the last year I've observed how they engage with their writing in different ways. I probably observe this more because I am writing a lot these days as well, although in a different context. They all write fiction, and I for one, and am always amazed by this ability. As we were text-chatting, she shared that she's been receiving some very positive feedback from her writing teacher and is being encouraged to start pitching and presenting her work. She has also had some nibbles from publishers and agents. I thought about this, and realized that she and I are probably writing in a similar manner, even though we are writing about very different things. She is being mentored and coached about her writing, and I imagine that she is making changes and even to some extent, making sacrifices to her craft in order to improve upon it. And this got me thinking even more about the craft of changing the work. Simply, the craft of editing. In painting, or song-writing, and now more recently academic writing, there is always something personal there for me. What I create is from me, and so receiving feedback can be felt personally. That I have had years of experience in receiving feedback on my work that is very personal (As an aside, there really is something weird about having a critic provide feedback on a painting - or an art dealer. I once had a woman approach my work from a strictly sellable point of view and say, "this would work in an office hallway" - ouch. Needless to say I have faced a ton of rejection, but also some acceptance) has probably made me less sensitive to the feedback. Because the aim for me is improvement. My feelings aside, even though it is hard to take, I want to be better at my craft. And I know my friend in Seattle is going through this too. She is putting herself out there, writing and getting feedback, changing things she probably never imagined she would change, and doing this because she is dedicated to being a better writer. The real skill here then, is a talent for being edited and changing the work.