Writing and the Gift of a Great Editor

Last week, my wife showed me a clip from the X Factor of an early audition by a young singer name Jake Quickenden. During the audition, the judges stop Jake in the midst of his performance. While they were not keen on his performance, they recognized something behind it all and encouraged him to try again with a different approach. The results were remarkable. If you have not seen this clip, take a moment to watch:

The startling difference between the first and second song in this audition i...