Voice Your Own Opinion in Your Writing or the Message May be Lost
By: Jill Reid
Tags: Creativity, Productivity, Work, Writing, Writing Tips

Has anyone else noticed the increasingly clear mandate from editors requiring writers to provide existing sources of verification and validation for the opinions and ideas expressed in their stories?

Why is it suddenly necessary for writers to authenticate their articles by making reference to supportive sources, especially when the only purpose for using such qualification is to legitimize their content as a derivative extension of prior work?

What happened to spur suspicion in the gatekeeper’s minds, causing them to summarily dismiss our writing efforts unless authenticated by a pre-existing and supposedly superior source?

I suppose there’s some minimal level of logic behind this protocol.

For example, if we’re writing about the design of diesel engines and have no experience or knowledge about the topic, it would be appropriate to do the research and rely on the education and experience of others — experts with an understanding of the subject.

But what about writers who have a treasure trove of knowledge, background, and personal experience and can competently offer fact and experientially-based opinion without the need to justify their content by using third-party, “expert” endorsement?

I realize I’m ranting a bit

But it seems rather limiting and constrictive to disallow content based on guidelines that imply, often without merit, that we don’t know what we’re talking about. And unless we can cite corroborating source material from someone with an accepted approval rating, our articles are dismissed as irrelevant or inaccurate.

After digesting this concept, my internal radar went off the scale — accompanied by warning flags.

This requirement all but eliminates the sharing of original thought.

In an article by writer, blogger, and podcaster Seth Godin, the author offers several valid points and conclusions regarding subjective gatekeeping and the often unintended result of suppressing original thought and its effect on the learning process.

Here’s an excerpt from his piece:

“You don’t need “expertise” to create useful work.” “. . . Credentialing lulled us into false confidence about who was actually an expert. The fact that you have a degree doesn’t mean you have insight, experience, or concern. You’ve acquired a piece of paper, but that doesn’t mean you care. “Today, we can go beyond the credential and actually see your impact. We can create a body of work and a community that understands the impact we’re capable of.”

Kudos to Seth for bringing to light what many of us have already learned and instinctively understand: Life is an open school room, and those deemed as credible sources remain credible only until someone proves them wrong.

And yes, I realize the inclusion and reference to Seth’s article may appear to be in counterpoint to my premise.

However, it is his on-going and generous work that inspired my thinking and, ultimately, this article. He deserves to be acknowledged as my source of inspiration, as opposed to using his authority to substantiate personal opinion, or exploiting the reference as a “prop” to satisfy the prerequisites of publication.

Doing the work — being creators who make unique and original contributions by sharing our perspective, opinion, and knowledge with others — is the very definition of originality. Without it, there is no creativity — and no place for new ideas to form.

Preventing readers from hearing unique, distinctive, or even unusual voices limits the formation of new thought and new ways to connect ourselves to the universe — and to each other. Even worse, it places us on the slippery slope of negligence in our responsibility to convey an important message: Think for yourself.

So write your story. Do the work.

Then deliver your words, experience, and knowledge to the world. Your audience will find you — and decide whether or not they want to hang around.

“People like us do things like this.” — Seth Godin

© 2020 Jill Reid. All Rights Reserved.

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Jill Reid is the author Real Life: We breathe, We sleep, We eat … And in-between, We Live and founder of Pathway to Personal Growth. Her books and articles explore life, happiness, self-improvement, health, productivity, relationships, and personal success strategies.