We all want our clients to like our work.
We want them to get great results, keep working with us, and, yes, like what we do.
It’s human nature.
And to help make all that happen, strong copyediting and useful writing feedback can make a big difference.
A good copyeditor is a writer’s dream. They can make your writing stronger. Not only are they another set of eyes to catch any mistakes, but they can ask insightful questions or make specific comments that help you think about the piece differently.
For example, I remember a college film class where I mentioned the “letterbox” format of the film in a paper I wrote, and my professor commented that I didn’t say anything else about it. He was right, I’d brought it up once and then never offered any additional supporting information. I still think about that comment decades later so I don’t make that type of mistake again.
Besides pointing out obvious gaps in content, a good editor can also smooth rough patches and help make sure your piece has the highest level of clarity.
Editors can also highlight copy that is not consistent, or portions that are unbelievable or boring.
As business writers, we rarely have an army of editors like you’d have for a book or magazine, but we are apt to receive feedback on our writing. Either from peers, editors we hire to help us make our copy stronger, or from clients who want changes.
The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Feedback
Good feedback offers specifics. An editor might ask a few clarifying questions that inspire you to provide another example or two, or they may suggest moving a section to improve flow. These are all useful as they make a piece better.
However, such feedback also requires the hand of an experienced editor who understands working with freelance writers. Otherwise, it’s possible to have less than helpful experiences. I’ve worked with inexperienced editors and directly with many business owners focused on the bottom line. I’ve also worked with a couple of small start-ups who wanted massive (to me) rewrites after every submission. They were nice about it, but I wanted a more streamlined process.
In my experience, there are three types of feedback:
#1. None. You submit a piece, and days go by to the point where you wonder if they received it. So, you drop a follow-up email, and the response comes back with something like, “Oh yeah, it was great; thanks for checking in.”
If this happens, congratulations for submitting a polished piece.
#2. You receive a few requests/questions from your primary point of contact.
This scenario is totally normal and to be expected. You can address the questions or comments and make the few requested changes. You’ll end up with a solid piece you and the client are happy with.
#3. You’re given a jumbled array of comments from various people, and it’s hard to make sense of it.
If #3 happens, you can take a deep breath and a short break. After you’ve jogged around the block, played with the dog, or done whatever you need to recalibrate, you can come back and establish your next step with fresh eyes.
First of all, review the comments and make sense of what you can. The biggest thing to remember if this happens is that there’s a lack of process for feedback between you and the client, so it’s up to you to create one so you can complete the piece to everyone’s satisfaction.
Here are a few ways you can set the feedback process expectations at the beginning.
With New Clients
I ask what their process is for working with writers. If I’m working directly with someone with “editor” in their title, they’ll probably offer a spiel that includes the words “writer’s guidelines” and “brief.” In most cases, such clients are accustomed to working with freelance writers and have a process in place. When I submit my piece, I usually say something upbeat like, “look forward to your feedback!”
If the client doesn’t have an established process, that’s my cue to share mine. I explain I’ll help them create a writer’s brief for each piece, share an outline for them to approve, and offer two revisions.
I also ask them to have a single point of contact. Here’s why: if you don’t designate one person as the point of contact, you risk receiving feedback from multiple “editors,” as mentioned above, and that’s not ideal.
It’s not optimum because if everyone adds their own thoughts and comments without an overarching creative direction, you have a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario. Which means you’re left having to figure out which feedback to incorporate, and which changes to prioritize if there’s more than one directive. In this situation, you’re more likely to have to do several rounds of edits until you get agreement.
When you offer “guardrails,” so to speak, in the form of a writer’s brief and clearly outlined expectations, then you demonstrate professionalism and help see the project through to completion more effectively.
With Existing Clients
If you want to improve your process, you can grab a pen and a piece of paper and write out the way you’d like things to go and compare them to what’s been happening.
I did this with an existing client who had a staff change that changed our processes. While I’d worked with them for over a year, the addition of new people required revisiting the processes and explaining why it was important to coordinate their vision before I started writing.
Otherwise, it took twice as long to finish the articles and held up their publication schedule, not to mention torpedoing my schedule.
After a while, I understood we lacked a process, and it was up to me to create one.
If you’re new to professional writing, the idea of receiving feedback can be intimidating. You can be on pins and needles, wondering if they liked your material. But you don’t need to be. With a step-by-step process and an open-to-learn mindset, you can get good ideas from feedback and even use them to improve your writing. Your client will end up with copy that’s as strong as possible, and your writing skills will be stronger with each piece.
