Sunday, October 27, 2019
Sunday Reflection: Unretouched
The thing I love most about this senior photo is the huge disclaimer that it is "unretouched." I think it is fair to say that I have lived an unretouched life, and I am ok with that.
I've never been big on editing. One of my English teachers in high school nicknamed me "First Draft Osler" because I pretty much stuck with my first draft. It, in part, reflected my interest in authenticity, in the truth of what flows out first. But it also might be that I was lazy and/or sloppy. It's a gray area, right?
But unfiltered life is something I am drawn to. I love things like found art or notes because they are this rough and true expression of someone. In my own writing, it is easy to create and hard to edit. I feel like I am committing a fraud when I change things-- and especially if other people change things for me.
Authenticity has its limits of course, and it should not be used as an excuse for hurting others-- it's not right to be in the wrong and say "I am just that way." We all need edits sometimes. I certainly do.
Comments:
I think schools should talk to students more than they probably do about the notion of editing. As an inveterate editor of my own stuff and others' (as an English teacher and college counselor and publications person), I've rarely given it a second thought. It's hard to wrap my mind around NOT wanting to edit your work. I'm intrigued by the idea of authenticity and especially by feeling that it's fraud to go to a second draft. I'm very much the opposite, though maybe I want to revise my own stuff to ward off anybody else editing it!
I think there's a difference between editing the voice out of someone's work and editing it for basic clarity. It takes a humble editor to know when to stop editing.
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I think schools should talk to students more than they probably do about the notion of editing. As an inveterate editor of my own stuff and others' (as an English teacher and college counselor and publications person), I've rarely given it a second thought. It's hard to wrap my mind around NOT wanting to edit your work. I'm intrigued by the idea of authenticity and especially by feeling that it's fraud to go to a second draft. I'm very much the opposite, though maybe I want to revise my own stuff to ward off anybody else editing it!
I think there's a difference between editing the voice out of someone's work and editing it for basic clarity. It takes a humble editor to know when to stop editing.
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: 1:21 AM
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