Writing Well: Advice from Author and Editor Hugh Eakin

At lunchtime on Monday, April 27, students gathered in Julie Johnson Kidd Hall for a special event. Joshua Yaffa, BCB writer-in-residence had invited American Academy Fellow Hugh Eakin (author of Picasso's War, and editor of Foreign Affairs magazine) to share his advice on writing well. Eakin recommended that writers "be their own editors" before submitting a final draft to an editor. We have to try and "activate that [editor] part of ourselves," in considering how an article might need to be revised before reaching its audience.

In answer to Joshua Yaffa's question about what an editor is looking for in a pitch, Eakin emphasized the importance of having an argument, rather than merely "reporting" on a significant event. This may not mean presenting wholly new information; it could involve collecting, curating and synthesizing existing knowledge. An argument must be multistep: "you have to be taking us somewhere." It's a question of sequence, and of defining the heart of a piece, which may turn out to be very different from the initial pitch.

Yaffa remarked that, among less experienced writers, tentativeness in making an argument can be compared to the early stages of learning a language: the speaker might mumble because they are unsure that they'll be able to communicate effectively. Class discussions help to overcome this problem. Sometimes simply writing up the clarifications you've offered in answer to a question can improve your work. Hugh Eakin confirmed the importance of editors talking to writers in order to pin down the essence and the structure of an article.

In terms of style, both writers emphasized the primacy of clarity over the search for the "beautiful": make sure you have something to say, and express it as clearly as possible. Attuning your ear and your sensibility will ensure that you avoid ugly words or phrases. Both Joshua Yaffa and Hugh Eakin jokingly referred to the formative role of "humiliation" at the hands of an experienced editor in shaping a writer's progress. The ribbing that might greet awkward Latinate nouns turned into verbs kills off any temptation to "utilize" these ever again.

Eakin and Yaffa recommended becoming closely familiar with the content, scope and approach of any publication to which writers wish to pitch an article. On the role of AI, Eakin observed that while the large language models seem able to produce correct and polished sentences, they are less good at generating the sense of narrative momentum essential to any compelling piece of writing. Both Eakin and Yaffa noted that AI does away with the "struggle" fundamental to writing: the rewarding and difficult combat with the screen and the page.

Post Date: 05-05-2026