It’s always a good idea to let other people, especially editors, review and critique one’s writing. I’m no exception; one of my recent pieces received a good thrashing. Although the thrashing was done in the kindest of ways, it still smarted a little. Some of the points were things I know and try to follow. For instance, I know to use active verbs – they make for stronger writing – but, for some reason, progressive verbs plagued this particular piece. I felt ashamed and vowed to do better in the future.