Do you know these editing tricks to speed your editing?

Many years ago when I was starting in the biz as a script reader I had to quickly turn around my script coverage.This made the editing of my reports harder. Once you’ve written, edited, and read a piece of writing (fiction or non-fiction) many times you begin to read what’s in your head and not what’s on the page. You lose objectivity!

I therefore had to devise ways to trick my mind to actually read the words on the page. To hand in sloppy work was just an invitation to leave. But speed was important to production companies.

Here are some tricks I used to make the words on my overseen pages as readable and real as new:

1)     After drafting my coverage and doing as pelling, grammar and punctuation check, I would take a rest. I would try to get my mind off the text. 

2)     Then I would edit the text in the regular way of reading in my mind the words on the screen.

3)     Next I would read the new draft  ALOUD to myself while focusing hard on every word on the screen.

4)     After that polish, I would then BOLD the text on the screen and read it aloud to myself.

5)     After that edit, I would then print out the piece and edit it on paper with a red pen.

6)     After keying in those changes, I would do a last aloud SLOW edit on the screen.

I hope those practices help you to polish your work, especially if it has to be rushed. These editing tips can save you from making mistakes. Objectivity can be “focused” and often has to be for us to be work efficient in any time conscious task. These editing tricks, and others, are good for all forms of writing. Good luck applying them.

Do you want to learn other editing techniques?

 “Scott McConnell is an excellent Script Editor.”                            Snorri Þórisson,  CEO Pegasus Pictures 

                            “Stories are ideas in action!”

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