EDITING MORALS AND ETHICS

🎄 By now, you’ve recorded your narration, captured soundbites, and built the foundations of your story.

Now it’s time to shape your raw material into a cohesive narrative.
But editing is more than just a technical process.
It’s a craft that comes with ethical responsibilities.

When working in a DAW, you wield great power over your material.
You can cut, copy, and rearrange words to create entirely new meanings.
You can clean up every "um," remove every breath, and smooth out every hesitation.

But with great power comes great responsibility.

Today, we’ll discuss practical editing techniques and the ethical considerations that ensure your story remains fair, clear, and true to your guest’s intent.

Step One: Tidying Up Narration

Start with your narration, where retakes and repeated lines are common.
As you edit, focus on clarity and flow while maintaining a natural rhythm.

Cleaning Up Retakes

When recording narration, you’ll often have multiple attempts at a line:

"It was the night before… it was the… it was the night before Christmas, and all…"

In this case, cut the false starts and keep the correct take:

1. Set Your In Marker:
   
   Place it just before the beginning of the correct version, ideally at the start of the first word (e.g., the “iii” in "it").
   This ensures you retain the breath from the first attempt, seamlessly carrying it into the final version.

2. Set Your Out Marker:
   
   Place it just after the correct take ends.

3. Delete the Mistakes:
   
   Remove the earlier attempts without disrupting the natural pacing of the breath.

🎧 Pro Tip: Always check your edits for double breaths or unnatural gaps.
A clean, seamless edit will sound as though it was spoken perfectly the first time.

Step Two: Masking Tricky Edits

Not all edits are straightforward.
Sometimes, cutting at the beginning or end of a sentence creates unnatural gaps or highlights the edit, especially when tone or pacing changes between takes.
In these cases, think inside the sentence.
Editing mid-phrase can mask the transition and maintain the flow of the narrative.

Example 1: A Common Edit

• Original:
  
  "It was the first day of Christmas, and all was… It was the first day of Christmas, and all was calm around the house."

• Typical Edit:
  
  You might instinctively try cutting the first “It” and keeping the second attempt.
  But this can create a noticeable shift in tone or rhythm between the two takes.

A Better Solution: Edit Mid-Sentence

Instead of starting fresh at the second attempt, keep the first half of the initial take and cut at a logical midpoint:

• Keep:
  
  “It was the first day of Christmas” from the first take.

• Add:
  
  “…and all was calm around the house” from the second take.

🎧 Pro Tip: When editing mid-sentence, always listen to the entire phrase at full speed.
The goal is to create a seamless flow that feels natural and unnoticeable to the listener.

Step Three: The Case for Keeping Breaths and Umms

Breaths Are Natural

Breaths signal to the listener that the speaker is human.
When you remove all the breaths, the dialogue can feel unnatural and mechanical.

More importantly, listeners instinctively sense when something is missing.
Without regular breathing, they might unconsciously hold their own breath, waiting for the guest to exhale.

🎧 Pro Tip: If a breath is unusually loud or distracting, lower its volume slightly instead of removing it entirely.

What About "Umms" and "Uhhs"?

Hesitations can serve an important role in speech:

• Thinking Aloud:
  
  A hesitation often signals that the speaker is processing a thought.

• Pacing:
  
  Sometimes, a pause or "uhm" adds emotional weight or suspense.

Remove them only if:

• They clutter the response, making it hard to follow.

• They disrupt the rhythm of the narrative.

Example:

• Without the "Uhm":
  
  Interviewer: "Are you the real Santa Claus?"
  Guest: "No."

  This response is clear but lacks depth or emotion.

• With the "Uhm":
  
  Interviewer: "Are you the real Santa Claus?"
  Guest: "Ummmmmm... no."

  The hesitation suggests uncertainty, adding nuance to the answer.

🎧 Pro Tip: Before editing a hesitation, ask yourself: Does it add authenticity or disrupt the flow?

Step Four: Ethical Editing

Editing isn’t just about technical precision.

It’s about integrity.

As an editor, you have a responsibility to honor your guest’s story while ensuring your audience can follow the narrative.

The Power of Editing

With just a few cuts, you can dramatically alter meaning:

• Original:
  
  "I do not like the festive season as I do not have any family to share it with."

• Edited
  
   "I like the festive season as I have family to share it with."

Technically, this edit is possible—but ethically, it’s a breach of trust.

Guiding Questions for Ethical Editing

When editing, ask yourself:

1. Am I staying true to my guest’s intent?
   
   Your edits should clarify or amplify your guest’s story—not distort it.

2. Will the audience understand the story?
   
   Simplify where necessary, but never at the expense of the truth.

Editing with Integrity

It's okay to refine phasing or cut out repetition as long as the core meaning remains intact.

For example:

• Original:
  
  "So, um, I… I don’t know, I think maybe we always, like, meet in the afternoon for mulled wine."

• Edited:
  
  "We always meet in the afternoon for mulled wine."

🎧 Pro Tip: Imagine your guest hearing the final edit.
Would they feel their story was told accurately and respectfully?
If not, revisit your changes.

Why This Matters

Editing is where your story takes shape, but it’s also where trust can be broken.
By refining your material with integrity, you create a story that’s both engaging and truthful.
Something your guest would be proud to hear and your audience will trust.

As an editor, you’re kind of like Lady Justice for the story.
You’re the one balancing everything, making sure it’s fair and weighed equally.
Leaving your audience to be both the jury and the judge.

🎁  Today’s Challenge:
Take a section of your narration or interview and practice editing with these tips in mind.
Clean up retakes, experiment with tricky edits, and consider the ethical implications of your changes.

🎄✨ Tomorrow: We’ll take those polished blocks and look at structuring them into a seamless narrative.

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