Read, Write, Repeat.

I love writing.

I love editing.

And I love getting feedback from other writers and editors on my writing. There’s always at least one idea or concept I can take away to improve my piece — often in ways I’d never come up with on my own.

During my15 years of writing in the corporate world, I’ve even learned to like getting feedback from the nonwriters who often review my copy for technical accuracy and compliance with industry laws. I like the challenge of listening to their comments or concerns — often expressed in legalese or corporate jargon — and figuring out how to say them in a reader-friendly way.

Of course, some of these reviewers comment on more than accuracy and law abidance.

They ask for unnecessary commas, change correct verb tenses to incorrect ones because they “sound better” and add paragraphs of self-congratulatory fluff. These types of reviewers send the marked-up copy back to me with comments like, “My mother was a proof-reader, and I picked up a few tips,” or, “My sophomore English teacher said I was a good at writing. I didn’t pursue it because accounting was more lucrative, but it was fun to redo this.”

I always consider each change carefully because good ideas can come from anywhere, and there have been times the technical experts or lawyers have found punctuation or grammatical mistakes. But I wrote the poem below in honor of all the times the suggested changes detracted from the finished piece instead of enhancing it.

Please note: The poem refers to banking, but any other highly technical and regulated industry could be substituted, as well.

An open letter to copy reviewers

There. I feel better now. And if anyone who’s ever reviewed my business copy is reading this, the poem doesn’t refer to you.

At all.