From Wednesday, August 27 to Sunday, August 31, 2014, members of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) will gather in Katsina, for this year’s Nigerian Editors’ Conference (ANEC).
This week’s editions of the MCD Diary will be devoted to writing about issues relating to what editors do and how they can improve on their job.
Some of the topics I am working on include Wisdom for Editors, Editors reporters admire and Reporters editors prefer to work. Please send your contributions on the topics to include in my write ups.
Today, the focus is on how to apply editing skills to become a better person and journalist.
One of the lessons I learnt in journalism school is that the best way to learn how to write well is to be able to rewrite my stories and articles as many times as possible. Coupled with this, is the ability to edit and proof read my stories before passing it for other levels of editing.
Over the years, I have mastered these skills just like most other colleagues have done. We usually try as much as possible within our ability to rewrite our stories, features and opinions and edit them to ensure that they are good enough for publication and broadcast.
Many of the articles in this series are not the first copies. I have had to completely rewrite some and delete some paragraphs when I am convinced there are better ways to make my point.
When I am through with writing, I give some colleagues to help read through to ensure errors are eliminated and that I am communicating the right message.
If editing can ensure we produce good copies, how about applying the principles in managing our lives and media career?
There are things that we need to edit in our career story – things that are preventing many of us from becoming the accomplished journalists we ought to be. There are other ways to go about our work, like when re-writing a story.
It is said that insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a change. What will be, will not be unless it is made to be.
If you take time to review your career and life, you will appreciate the case made by Vanessa David Griggs in her article titled Editing our Lives, published in the premiere issue of San Diego Business Woman of 2010. She advised that we should correct the errors of our career, instead of allowing them be like wrong punctuations, spelling errors and long sentences in a potentially good story.
“In your life, if there are people or things that may be like the blackness covering up the beauty of your life’s story, take a sharp instrument, so to speak, and begin to scrape the dark away. If things are out of place, highlight them and move them to where they need to be.
“If something is great and needs to be repeated, copy and paste it, but be careful not to be too repetitive. If something doesn’t need to be there at all, delete it,” Griggs counseled.
Are there colleagues you need to delete from your list of associates because they are bad influence on you? Don’t hesitate to do so if you don’t want to remain at the low level they are in the profession.
What career decision have you made that you need to correct? The earlier you do, the better – before it gets too late.
What should you give priority to as you put in more years in the profession to excel? Motion without movement is not progress.
What attitude is hindering your career growth? Decide today to edit them out of your career story. You don’t need a letter of appointment to be the Editor of your life and career.
Please share with me and other readers your views on how to edit our life and career story.
Thanks for your feedbacks and let me get more to enrich this series.
Photo: Former NGE President, Gbenga Adefaye and incumbent President, Femi Adesina
Lekan Otufodunrin Email: info@mediacareerng.org /Telephone: 08023000621 /Twitter: @lotufodunrin /Skype: lekanskype
