Being an editor is no easy job, and I think in these times of the quick print and fast output and big money deals that the job has largely been abdicated. Which is too bad because I can think of some okay published books that would have been improved if an editor had been around instead of the publisher catering to the giant ego of a famous but unpolished author. The writer is only one part of the creative process.....the words belong to the writer, the white space belongs to the reader and the white space is important in creating something meaningful. We can't write for any audience but ourselves without becoming self-conscious and pandering, but once the story is released into the world, it is finished by those who read it and bring their own thoughts and lives to what they read. A good editor helps the writer clarify what may be an obscured vision so that it is better communicated to the reader, who will complete the story for themselves. And what is the point of writing if not communication? I don't think someone is automatically brilliant and I am automatically stupid if I don't understand what someone has written...I'm thinking they didn't try very hard to reach me, they didn't care about me as an audience, and I don't have time for their obscurities. I don't think it is caving to seriously consider what an editor suggests....I take the comments I've received here and from friends with no offense and a great deal of gratitude. It's not easy to tell a friend, "you know, this isn't very clear," or "that doesn't seem right for the character." Of course the writer gets defensive...the work is the child of imagination and you want to protect it...but if you can get past being defensive, then it's possible to see that the editor, professional or amateur, is trying to tell you how better to reach your reader. On the other hand, not everyone who writes has any intention of being published. We have to acknowledge and appreciate the fact that we all write for different reasons. To some, being published and recognized as an author is an important goal. To others, that is unimportant and it is something else that drives us to write. I don't think one is better than the other. Being published does not make a person a better writer than someone who keeps their writing to themselves. That notion is ego talking, not talent. My respect goes to the person who writes every day and persists whatever else is involved in their goal....that is what I haven't been able to do.