Summary

The author expresses the challenges and misunderstandings that can occur when editors modify stories, potentially stripping them of the writer's original intent and emotion.

Abstract

The article discusses the tension between writing and editing, emphasizing that while editing is crucial, it can sometimes detract from the essence of a piece. The author argues that writing is an emotional process influenced by mood, inspiration, and passion, which editors may not fully grasp. This misunderstanding can lead to stories being edited in a way that removes their initial spark, resulting in a piece that feels unfamiliar to the writer. The author shares personal experiences of having to republish stories after editorial changes because the edited versions did not resonate with readers as the originals did. The piece suggests that editing should enhance rather than distort the writer's voice and that a story's rejection by editors might also stem from a lack of understanding of the writer's intent.

Opinions

The author believes that the act of writing is deeply tied to the writer's mood and emotional state, making it a divine process, whereas editing is seen as a more intellectual, human endeavor.
Editors are viewed as refiners and dressers of writing, but not all are adept at preserving the writer's original voice and intention.
The author disagrees with the notion that "To write is human and to edit is divine," proposing instead that writing is divine due to its connection with mood and inspiration, while editing is a human process that can sometimes lead to the "murder" of a story.
The writer suggests that a story can be "murdered" by an editor if the original intention is misunderstood, leading to either rejection or inappropriate modification.
The author has had to republish their own stories multiple times due to dissatisfaction with the editorial process, and these republished versions performed better with readers.
The article advises writers to critically review their edited stories to ensure that the essence and original intent have been preserved rather than lost in the editing process.
The author acknowledges that rejection of stories by editors can be a result of a mismatch in understanding between the writer and the editor.

Sometimes, Editors Strip Our Stories Naked

When the original intentions of the writer are misunderstood

Photo by Jessica Felicio on **Unsplash**

Sometimes, when we submit our stories to the editors to be dressed, the stories come out naked. They end up murdering the stories.

This is one of the reasons why I disagreed with the writer who said;

“To write is human and to edit is divine”.

I said it should be the other way round.

To write is mood. To edit is intellectual. Therefore, to write is divine and to edit is human.

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The writer’s mood is a matter of the heart, a matter of disposition, and a matter of how he is feeling at that time of the writing.

To write is to express. To edit is to modify.

The inputs of editors in writing can never be undermined. The editors are the refiners. They are dressers. But it does not happen all the time. Not all Editors are good dressers.

Ok. Let me put it this way. All editors are good dressers but not all writings that pass through their desks come out well dressed. There are times when you submit your stories to editors but those stories will come out from their editing oven, naked.

Yes. Some editors strip our stories naked.

The reason why our stories are murdered by editors is that the original intention of the writing is misunderstood.

An editor edits with his intellectual eyes while a writer writes with 3 eyes. The writers produce their stories through the eyes of inspiration, mood, and passion.

Most of the good write-ups are done in a sobber mood. The mood of a writer is always reflected in his or her writings. The editor of the story does not always understand this mood. He too edits according to his disposition about the story.

Editors are not magicians who read minds, they edit based on how they understand the stories. Sometimes, the intention of the writing is completely misunderstood. When this happens, two things will likely occur.

The editor will either cross (rejection) the story or he will try to fine-tune or dress the story (modification). In the end, the story will be murdered. When he finally hands the script over to the writer, the contents will look strange.

I have had to republish my stories several times on Medium because my editor murdered it. I had sent the stories to editors to give it a perfect touch before they would be published.

On these occasions, my stories came out, naked. It was stripped off all the embellishments that prompted me to write in the first instance.

I frown but I had to accept them. After all, I am not an editor.

To justify my point, those stories remained silent in my feed with just a few reads. But when I republished them and added all the things that were removed, it attracted readers more than it did before.

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Next time you send your stories to editors, read them thoroughly again and find out if they were dressed or murdered. Sometimes, editors don’t actually understand the original intention of a writer.

What about story rejection? Yes. This is also one of the reasons why stories are rejected sometimes.

I have known all these and it has helped me to remain calm.