The Power of Positive Editing

The Power of Positive Editing – 

In my work as an English teacher, I’ve had the privilege to interact with all kinds of people, all with their own unique backgrounds, styles, interests and goals.  Yet for all the rich diversity that each of us brings to the table, when it comes to communicating, everyone starts in the same place: with an idea.

Ideas are funny.  You can’t see them or touch them.  Novel ideas take shape in a pre-lingual state, bouncing around the electrical pathways of our minds.  Yet ideas hold great power locked inside.  A great idea can change the world.  But not without some hard work.

Lessons in Positive Editing from Pixar

The first step is to simply get your idea out, in whatever fashion you’re able.  No idea is perfect when it’s first expressed.  In his book Creativity Inc., Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull compares new ideas to babies: They’re fragile, they require nurturing and protection. And at first, he says, these particular babies are far, far less than beautiful.

Your brain child, the idea that was so bright and shiny within the recesses of your mind, often looks very plain and drab in the cold light of day.  “This isn’t what I hoped for,” you say to yourself. At this moment, you have a choice to make.

You could abandon your idea (your precious child!) and hope that something better comes along.

You could setting for “good enough”: Just get the idea out there, and hope for the best. Hope that someone sees the spark inside that first got you so excited.

Or you can do the hardest, most daring thing of all: Nurture your idea, clean it up, feed and strengthen it, trimming mercilessly where necessary—refining that initial spark so it burns as brightly as possible.

The Separation in the Preparation

In my experience, this choice is what separates the best from all the rest. We all start in basically the same place. The great communicators, however, aren’t content to stay there. They’ll do the hard work that allows their ideas stand on their own two feet.

Positive editing helps your content shine within the cluttered marketplace of ideas. It catches people’s attention, invites them into the story, encourages them to dream new possibilities.

Your ideas could change the world. But you don’t have to take this on alone. When you need a hand, we’re there for you.

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