How to deal with difficult edits

A heavy edit can lead to a heavy heart, but it needn't. Here's why.

I’ve had a few heavy edits in my lifetime as a travel writer. The proverbial red pen can often feel like a personal attack on your most precious words. It makes my cortisol spike and my arms tingle a little when I see a significant number of comments on a piece I’ve submitted. Did I get it so drastically wrong? How could I have messed it up? Will they e…