Getting a story right

So, I covered a meeting last Tuesday evening, came home and wrote a story about it. It was a complicated meeting, with lots of cost estimates, proposals and background information. By the end of it, I couldn't imagine how I would write it up. But, back home, the story came easily and I knew (thought I knew, anyway) that it was good. I sent it off to my editor and hit the hay.

The next morning, I had an email in my box from my editor. He said it was a good story but that he was holding it for the following Monday. He questioned, though, the lede of my story and wanted to discuss that. At first, I was annoyed. It was a complex meeting, I'd written a good story and it wasn't going to run. But it was the day before Thanksgiving, a terrible day to run a story of real substance. And, beginning of the week stories get more play online. Still, I didn't want him to be right about the lede. Mine was the right one.

We argued about it and I even told him I wouldn't revise it. But he talked more and I realized, much to my frustration, that he was right. My angle was good, but his was better and the bigger truth. It always comes down to not loving your words so much that you can't or won't change them. The story didn't run today (Monday), but will run tomorrow. It's better for all the hassle.