1. You have clear and concise communication skills — you’re pleasant, but you get to the point.
2. You don’t JUST have ideas. You have goals. Plans. And the writing samples to prove it.
3. You lean on your strengths. You know what you’re already good at — you don’t need someone else to validate that for you.
4. You have strong ideas and aren’t afraid to run with them — even if writing them out isn’t necessarily your strongest skill yet.
5. You’re not just willing but passionate about learning and improving. You actively take an interest in leveling up your skills and performance.
6. You’re not afraid to let your voice shine through in your work, even if it still needs some fine-tuning.
7. You’re able to define exactly what it is you want to do better as a writer and open up communication about this with your editor (if open communication is available to you — it isn’t always, unfortunately).
8. You don’t just accept feedback and criticism — you learn from it, and actively and immediately respond to it through the work that comes after.
9. You ask for help when you need it, but you’re also not afraid to go off on your own and experiment, dare to make mistakes, and learn by doing.
10. Telling stories isn’t just something you do. It’s who you are. It’s so much a part of you that not doing it for the rest of your life, in one way or another, just wouldn’t make sense.
Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is an editor and writer, and a 12-time NaNoWriMo winner. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food, and Star Wars.
Meg Dowell Writes 
Great points, Meg! Seems like #10 might be difficult for an editor to know, unless you tell them you feel this way?
Maybe it’s the way in which you talk about it? Like if you talk about your stories as a commodity, or if it seems like you just want to publish a book, versus talking about your work in a way that shows you love your story, such saying why you believe your character has a certain psychological trait that leads her to do certain things? That probably doesn’t help 😕
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this great post from the Novelty Revisions Blog with 10 Ways an Editor Knows You’re Going to Be a Successful Writer