Editing

The paper arrived on time the morning the editorial was to appear.

My name and the picture of myself I recognized. The article as it appeared I did not. At least I didn’t recognize what was written as mine.

Sentences I had written were there, most of them, just none of them in the order that I had written them.

My first reaction? “That’s odd.”

I had no connection to what I had written. As time passed and I re-read, I connected less and less.

When I went into work that morning, many approached. Others contacted through email or phone.

These were their comments:
"Did you change your work to write an editorial?'
"The editorial was not your voice."
"I didn't recognize the writing as yours. Somebody else wrote it."
"Bland. I got nothing out of it. I know how you write. Always a strong and deliberate message."
"This wasn't your style. I couldn't hear your voice. Your voice always comes through when you write."

Now I understood my first reaction.

I then was left with the dilemma; do I tell readers approaching me the truth? It truly was not the work I had submitted.
I settled for saying it was the edited version of what had been submitted.

Each then questioned why the work of a "guest essayist" would have an editor. They believed those columns were written by people of the community and the opinions written as authored, not as edited.

I had no answer for their mental quandary.

As an author and publisher, I knew the power of changing key words such as nouns to direct attention to one, then another. Creates direction of blame and tension. Greater power comes with altering message by adjusting the order the reader is exposed to thoughts. I knew this and had been told by readers that I can be most effective with this to convey heart language people can connect with as they read and ponder what they have just read. Never has my work been described as bland.

This experience was my formal education on the power of editing.

My mission was for the children silenced on their road. The edited version…the children’s voices...lost.

I sent an email to the editor and senior editor of the paper stating what my readers had shared with me of their reactions. My final question?

What was altered of the message of the “Guest Essayist” and what outcome will this action have on the growth and development of our community or contribute to blocking the path to peaceful resolution and healing?