The Three Edit Manifesto
The ultimate goal of these edits is to tell a story. I don’t care what I’m doing. No matter if it is a workout, a team meeting, or a blog post- I know the art of communicating is best done through telling a complete story.
It’s taken me many years to admit this, but here it is…
I am not a good freestyler, I’m not good off the cuff, nor am I an ad-libber. I need rehearsal. I need edits. I bet you do too.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that my ideas and writing get exponentially better the more I edit. For me, minimally it takes 3 versions. Three go-arounds and my writing achieves approximately 80% of its effectiveness. I’m usually happy with 80%. I feel like most effort past that 80% mark isn’t worth it. The diminishing returns are too significant.
If you ever look at my notebook, you’ll always see V.1, V.2, or V.3 at the top of the page. Even in last week's post, you see that that strength workout is only at V.2. I need another pass at it. You can tell. The workout has good bones but it lacks an articulate story. I need to think through why I’m doing the things I’m doing. This is what V.3 is for.
My weekly to-do list. Lots of versions to get through.
Here’s what I think each version is for.
V.1 - Get the thoughts out of my brain and on the paper
V.2 - Clean up silly mistakes, add in ideas I’ve been ruminating about since the first pass
V.3 - Clear up the storyline and minimize wherever possible
Knowing that things take three versions for me really clears up my headspace. This means that when I write version one, I don’t have to worry about it being perfect. The simple goal of getting my thoughts out on paper is really freeing. If I get long-winded, I don’t sweat it as I know V.2 and V.3 will deal with that. This quote from one of my favorite films, Finding Forrester, really speaks to this: “You write your first draft with your heart, you rewrite with your head.”
For the last 6 months, I’ve started using the Pomodoro technique for these versions. (I’m doing it right now). With this technique, I set a timer for 25 minutes, and I focus on one task only. I work on the task the whole time no matter what. Even If I just sit there. Shoot, usually my best thoughts come from having the space to just sitting there. I use the Forest app as my timer. It costs a few bucks but I get so much satisfaction from watching my virtual forest grow.
The ultimate goal of these edits is to tell a story. I don’t care what I’m doing. No matter if it is a workout, a team meeting, or a blog post- I know the art of communicating is best done through telling a complete story. The story may not be obvious or even existent when I write the first version. In between each pass, my subconscious will chew on it, and at some point, likely during one of my walks in the woods, the story will appear. Then, on that third version, my ideas are already on paper and I just need to add some small things, make minimal edits, and we’re ready to go. The story doesn’t have to be something incredibly profound, it just has to exist.
Think about it, then I suggest you add more edits to your life- I bet your stories come out cleaner too.