I love editing audio, but let's face it - I'm not the fastest editor on the block.
I’m always looking for ways to speed up the editing process.
Are you Reader?
But I get so involved in editing, so deeply focused that I forget about everything else around me.
I’ll finally look up from my computer and I’ll be sitting in the dark. The cat’s pawing at me, starving.
Ken Robinson in his book ‘How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything’ called this “The Element”. He said,
“When you're in your Element, your sense of time changes. If you're doing something that you love, an hour can feel like five minutes. If you are doing something you do not, five minutes can feel like an hour.”
You might be the same as me.
Or you might not like editing. It’s just that necessary evil to get your episode out there.
I think the reason why it takes me a bit longer is because of my toxic trait - being a perfectionist!
So are there any hacks for speeding things up?
The Paper Edit
I remember back in my college and university days, then when I went to work for a film production company, ‘paper edits’ were a key part of the editing process.
Instead of simply handing the rushes (the raw footage) to the editor, we’d create a blueprint for them to follow. This process was the ‘paper edit’ and it’s the stage before any cutting of the footage is done.
You’d transcribe your footage - manually may I add - and then on paper (showing my analogue age) review what you’d shot. They’d be strikethroughs and notes to move bits to other sections. Sometimes we’d cut out chunks and lay them out on the floor to build the narrative.
In productions lucky enough to work in a team, this is usually done by a producer or similar, who’ll feed the notes to an editor. There’s possibly another few rounds of paper edits after this too, perhaps with more members of the team.
It’s not just video, paper edits are used in audio too. Here’s radio and podcast legend Ira Glass’s for an episode of the ‘Without Fail’ podcast. These are his notes on the latest edit.
The paper edit helps you to get to know your content, review and chop before you sit down and do the proper edit. It gives you a plan of action.
So if you’re looking to speed up your editing perhaps the ‘paper edit’ approach could work for you?
The Paper Edit in a Modern World
Thankfully though, as technology has progressed so has the paper edit. The fundamentals are still there, but we don’t have to transcribe our raw files manually - hallelujah!
There are also programs that can do the cutting and swapping for you - saving you printing your transcripts out.
(Although I do love sitting down with a bunch of transcripts, a cup of tea and a highlighter pen!)
Take Descript for example. This nifty program will auto transcribe your files and give you the tools to edit your transcript and audio at the same time.
Descript has been a god send for me. Especially when I’m working in a team, because you can invite others into your workspace and leave them notes and comments.
Descript also works with video too.
Riverside, the remote recording software now has this functionality too.
Both have free membership tiers.
If you’re just looking for transcriptions, Microsoft Word (yes word!) and Rev (£) offer these services.
The Paper Edit approach, using these modern tools, has saved me a bunch of time, could it for you?
Cool things I've seen this week
New audience journey stats with Spotify
No, it’s not how tall Gary Barlow’s son is.
Spotify recently released a new way for you to understand how many people see your podcast on the platform and then how many convert to listeners.
They’re calling this 'discovery and impression' data.
For example, your data might show that you have a lot of impressions, but not many plays. This means potential listeners are seeing your show, but they may not choose to listen to or watch it.
So what can you do to convert these lurkers to listeners? Perhaps it’s a tweak to your description or cover art?
You can access this data via your Spotify for Podcasters dashboard.
This is available to all podcasters from any host, not just those that use Spotify for Podcasters hosting!
Cool things that's happened this week
A friendly support group for podcasters
I’ve been busy planning this month’s MIC’s Podcast Club with my partner in crime Charles Commins.
It’s our 69th event for podcasters and you’re welcome to join us.
MIC's Podcast Club is a global community of podcasters. We meet online every month to help each other make brilliant podcasts.
Our next meetup is Wednesday 13th November at 6pm (UK time)
It's free to join MIC's Podcast Club right here and RSVP to November's meetup.
See you next week!
Vic x
