Get back to work!
Editing is one those professions where time seems to evaporate. My favorite metaphor for this is when Elmer Fudd has to make Humphrey Bogart a rabbit stew or something in five minutes… or else. Elmer Fudd shudders, turns and looks at the clock, and the hands on the clock are spinning furiously. As an editor, you are Elmer Fudd. “Times up, shorty. Where’s my rabbit?!”
Whether it is morally right or not, editors are looked upon as slaves to their clients. Ok, that’s a bit extreme, especially since the slavemaster is sometimes the editor him or herself. But there has always seemed to be this sense among clients, producers and directors that once the editor has their material to do their job, they should do it as long and as fast as they can so that everyone can see the first cut as soon as possible. Remember, you are downstream to a whole political and creative tug-of-war story that will prove itself one way or another based on what you put together. While no one will say it outright, the assumption is that your personal time is less important than the needs of their precious project. You got into this gig knowing that there is no such thing as banker’s hours, and you will be rewarded for it, so get over it and get back to work! (Ever see the movie “The Boiler Room”?)
In light of that, there are time management tips that can make it so that you are leaving to go home at 1:00a.m. rather than 3:00a.m. For example, don’t get bogged down with a section if it means losing time to do other easier sections. Sometimes I start with the easiest parts of the program first and work my way around to the difficult parts. OK, a lot of times I do that.
Learn the signs of becoming too tired and ineffective. You need to take breaks and eat. Editing is a game of enduring focus, periods of highly efficient output, and periods where nothing comes to you creatively. Don’t force yourself unless you absolutely have to. Just keep moving forward, even if slowly, and then take time to review your work from the beginning to get a refreshed “distant” point of view. This will often inspire your next ideas.
If you are working by yourself, set a limit for how long you will edit, and stick to it as best you can. You will need to be fresh for the next day, and staying later than you should will only make you less effective the next day.
IMPORTANT: If you are working along side the client or director, be sure to indicate at the outset of your session how late you are able to work and stick to it as best you can for one very important reason: directors and clients will keep you working FOREVER if you let them. DO NOT let them feel as though you are their slave all day and all night. If you do not establish respect for the rest of your life, they will generally take advantage of you. I don’t mean to make it sound like directors and clients are evil because they aren’t. However, some people have a passion for working endlessly, and, arguably, you have to a be bit of a workaholic to succeed in this business, no matter what part of the process you do. If you are like them, then work all night and day.
But my personal experience in this regard has taught me that controlling your workaholic tendancies is a good habit to learn, even if there isn’t anyone else affected by it. Because some day you WILL have other people affected by it, and I have seen enough marriages and personal relationsips fall apart and children missing their parents that I take a firm position against open-ended work habits. Besides, once clients get used to working with you endlessly, it is very hard to change it without frustrating them. The only exception to this would be if you have explicitly committed yourself to staying until the job is done no matter how long it takes. In which case, you had better know what you are getting into.