What I didn't tell you was a fellow teacher named Katie was the one who told me about the journal's call for submissions. She submitted a piece she wrote with another educator and--unbeknownst to me until a couple of days ago--is on her fourth revision.
Great news, right? They want it, and Katie and her colleague are fine-tuning it.
Well, it doesn't sound so great.
Reviewer # 1 loved their article. Reviewer # 2 hated it (they of course did not use such blunt words), so the two of them worked on completely revamping the piece. (With this publication, the reviewers/editors always work in pairs.)
They sent it back.
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| photo by pixabay |
With reviewer # 3 and #4, more revisions were asked for. They worked on it and it's been looked at by a third wave of editors. Again, more revisions are being asked for.
Currently, if she is honest, my friend said, "We're on our 20th draft." She admitted that if the piece is not accepted this time, they're through.
One of the reviewers requested more of a "how to" article. How can we teach writing? Add water and stir? Do #1, #2 and #3 and your students will be writers? Absolutely not.
They're battling with how-can-we-voice-what's-really-in-our-hearts-while-at-the-same-time-appeasing-our-editors? In their latest draft, their piece talks about the paradigm shift teachers must make (they must think of themselves as writers and see writing as a process and not a product), that there is no laundry list of steps a teacher can take.
Will the 20th time be the one that gets a yes? We'll see...
