It’s easy to think of writing as something that flows through a writer, an already-perfect string of words and phrases that simply needs to be put to paper or screen. There’s something romantic about a solitary writer channeling some paragon of creativity or another, able to have a masterpiece spring fully-formed out of his own efforts.
But writing is rarely a solitary activity. Drafts may begin as the writer’s personal project, but later revisions often pass through an editor, a friend or colleague, or anyone willing to read something and deny the writer’s lunacy.
