Sitting down for a long editing session may seem productive, but often these sessions fizzle out before they begin. A novice editor sits down with the best intention of spending an hour on a video project, then ten minutes in, gets distracted looking for clips or questioning cuts or just not sure what to practice. A better routine is something you can repeat without burning out. You build good editing skills by regularly doing the work, not by doing a whole bunch one week and then not picking up your editor until next week. You can spend enough time to make actual editing decisions with a short routine and still end the session feeling like it was worth it. That is the point because the more frequently and consistently you make edits, the more your editing judgment, your editing process, and your instincts improve, including how strong video clips should be sequenced.
The trick is to make the practice sustainable, and the easiest way to do that is to make the content smaller. Don’t try to edit a travel montage video or interview video or something with multiple scenes to practice on. Look for a smaller project that you can edit in one session, for example, a small sequence of video clips that takes place in one kitchen or a few outdoor videos or even a simple action that starts and ends. You’re less tempted to edit something “good” when you’re editing smaller content; instead, you’re focused on editing. You may be practicing cuts on one day, then next day practice matching movement on another day. Short editing sessions are useful because you are practicing one skill at a time, not trying to make the video better in general.
A routine could work for fifteen minutes. In the first three minutes, watch the footage, decide on one skill that you are going to focus on, e.g., pacing, when to cut, or audio. The next seven minutes are your chance to practice, edit, or refine the video with that skill in mind. For the final five minutes, play back the edit and make a note of one thing you did well and one thing that still feels weak. That is very important. Without reflection, editing is just more editing. By writing out what was good and what was not, you get better at noticing things that need to be changed. You might find, for example, that your edits are too slow at the beginning, or that you’re letting shots linger too long.
Often editors change the focus of the practice session repeatedly. A beginner tries to practice pacing, suddenly starts working on color, or maybe adds on-screen text, or tests out music, or changes the order of the shots. Then at the end, there’s no way to know what you’ve improved upon. You need to determine that scope before you start. If it’s cut timing, leave the other editing tools alone. If it’s audio, don’t try adding on-screen transitions. It may seem constraining initially, but you’ll make better progress because you’ve narrowed down your focus. Focused editing sessions are more effective than unstructured sessions, even if those are what keep you busy in the editing software.
You might find that even the best editing plans fail. Your footage won’t work well in your video, or no matter how much you edit, it still doesn’t flow. It can be tempting to give up editing. When editing stalls, it is often better to do a little bit. Just try to improve the first ten seconds of your video. Edit different versions of the same cuts. Watch the edited video mute the audio to see what looks better, then turn off the screen and listen to it only to hear how it sounds. Those simple tests can reveal what’s broken. If your edit still isn’t working, save it and come back tomorrow. Don’t keep hacking away because that only blunts your editing sense. If you want your routine to work, you need to have enough left over energy to return again the next day when your mind is clearer.
The value of a short editing routine does not come from the video clips you create. The value is the practice you get at editing. In your future editing sessions, you’ll be more aware of the reason you’re opening a project, you’ll be able to make editing choices faster, and you’ll be able to identify mistakes sooner. You won’t have to try everything out to figure out what works because your editing choices will be more precise. You won’t build good editing habits because you have a long editing session, or an edited video you like; rather, you will learn them from regularly practicing: choosing a focus, making cutting decisions, evaluating how the editing changed, and returning often enough so the editing stays a familiar habit in your hands.