I'd like to begin by saying that I've submitted three articles to Teen Ink this week and none have been approved yet. Before anyone throws up their arms in incredulous disbelief and frustration, you should know that I am not writing to simply whine about how long the submission process takes. A Letter to the Editor titled “How Long Submissions Take to be Approved” has garnered quite a lot of attention from the TeenInk.com community. The writer argues, well, not much more than what the title implies. The anonymous writer simply states that Teen Ink should put submissions up on the website more quickly. Ironically, our anonymous friend has wasted the valuable time of the editors by forcing them to endure four lines of a poorly constructed argument.

I'm not writing to rage about how that article is completely wrong and should be confined to the depths of hell. The writer has a valid point; submissions do take quite a long time to be approved on occasion. What he/she fails to take into account is that the editors are only trying to make sure they select the very best work to appear in the print magazine. It takes a month for a poetry submission to be approved because the editors receive hundreds [editor's note: actually, thousands] of submissions in that category every month of the year. Do we want Billy Bob's misspelled poetry nightmare to appear in a national magazine we cherish? Of course not. So give the editors a break; they're doing their jobs the best they can.

I won't pretend that I don't let out a sigh of exasperation when I see that my submission still hasn't been approved, but I understand why. Unlike our anonymous muse, I look at any situation from both sides. I know and can empathize with those who wait weeks for their prized poem to appear, but I can also empathize with the poor editor who has to sift through a cyber slush pile to find those diamonds in the rough. My point is this: any article criticizing anything at all should be well informed on both sides of the issue. The anonymous author's fault isn't his passion or desire to make his/her voice heard; it's the fact that he/she ­didn't try to understand the other side. A much better ­argument against the length of time submissions take to be approved could have easily been made with just a few concessions.

I'm a man with an opinion, nothing more or less. No opinion is wrong or stupid or not worth having. However, there is something to be said for having an opinion that considers the other side. I suspect the editor who first read “How Long Submissions Take to be Approved” felt a little sad that the writer didn't appreciate the effort they were putting in to make Teen Ink an upstanding publication. But you know what? That editor posted that measly four-line submission on TeenInk.com for all to see anyway. That, my friends, is what Teen Ink is all about: giving every teen a chance to voice their heart.