M Hadi /

Editing how I write my edit before editing my edit.

Edit edit edit, edit edit. Editing edit.

A video-editing workspace with a preview above a densely assembled timeline.

I’m tired of writing. I’ve been writing all day.

I wrote a newsletter today. Now I’m writing another one.

I wrote a Letter of Continued Interest for Santa Clara University because apparently I’m supposed to be doing that for private schools I got waitlisted for.

Apparently I also missed the deadline to send in those letters but… still worth a shot, I guess.

I’ve also been writing my next YouTube video. I know, that sounds strange.

A video’s meant to be edited, not written…

That’s what I used to think, at least. I was wrong.

A dark document containing a filmmaking outline and production notes.

This is a skill I learned from the editors behind YouTube’s top creators. Think: MrBeast.

In the past, I’d take every single video file I have and dump it into an editing timeline.

I thought… tbh I have no clue what I was thinking.

Somehow I’d manage to go through every single clip and cut out stuff that I knew wasn’t necessary, then proceed to somehow “visualize” a story from those clips.

And that’s how I edited my videos for six years.

A dark document containing editing and storytelling notes.

L:earning to edit my videos within a document before editing it in the actual timeline changed everything.

Sure, it’s extremely tiring… I have to watch every single clip and type down it’s contents.

But by going through this process, not only am I creating a macro view for myself to see the entire story, I’m also immersing myself with the content so I know exactly what I’m dealing with.

So if you’re ever interested in making a story from a whole bunch of random media, try creating a macro view of it—write the edit before you edit the edit.