Revision & Editing

So, you’ve got a Crash Course video script…Now what?

Well, no script is perfect on the first try. It takes a few more steps to get it into the best shape to become a complete video.

Making a Crash Course script really shine involves reviewing it with an eye for how it could be improved, and changing things—big or small—to make it stronger, funnier, and more engaging. We also need to check a script for possible errors, either in the spelling and grammar or in any facts that may be inaccurate. Explore the Big Questions, Key Terms, and more below to learn how to get your script ready for production..

Pause!

What separates revision from editing?
Why is revision important? Why is editing important?
What is fact-checking, and why does it matter?

Note your answers to these questions. Thinking about revising vs. editing will help us consider both the BIG and small pictures.

Key Terms:

Revision is the process of changing written text to improve its quality.
Editing is the process of finding and correcting errors within a written text.
Context is background information that helps the reader/viewer understand the main point.
Sources are media that provide reliable information to use for research.
Fact-checking is the process of verifying that all the facts in a piece of writing are correct.

Now that you have new vocabulary to talk about stories, how have your answers to our original questions changed?

Revision vs. Editing

Study Hall, the sister channel of Crash Course, has an entire course on rhetoric and composition (basically, writing). These videos go more in-depth on revision vs. editing with tips for both steps.

Let’s Practice: Revising

Read the paragraphs and then answer the revision questions below. You don’t have to worry about any spelling or grammatical issues yet—that’s something you’ll focus on later in the editing process.

Ecology has abiotic factors and biotic factors. We can study ecology on so many scales, from the tiny to the tremendous. Let’s start big. The biosphere is one of them. On this scale, abiotic factors include where the air is, where the water is, and where the land is. We call these the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the geosphere.

OK, let’s zoom in a little. Within the biosphere, there are many different ecosystems. Ecosystems are all of the abiotic and biotic factors that interact with each other in a specific area. And they’re near each other, like how the shoreline is home to different types of critters than the ocean, and the ocean itself is home to different types of marine life at different ocean depths. The ecosystem is where we can observe biogeochemical cycles.

Think about what could be improved…

What's working? What isn't?
What could you add to make these paragraphs more interesting?
Are these paragraphs clear? How could you make them clearer?
Do the paragraphs make sense? Do they need more context?

Now Revise Your Own Script

Identify at least three points of possible revision and three points of editing on the script. Ask yourself the following questions as you read:

Do I understand the script’s message?
Do the ideas make sense in this order?
Am I left with any questions about the subject?
Is there anything missing from the script?
What did the writer do well?

And finally…

Fact-Checking

Now that the scripts have been written, revised, and edited, it’s time for the final stage of scripting: fact-checking!

For each fact in your script, you will need to find two sources that show what you’ve stated is correct. Gather those sources in a document, each with a quote from it that proves the fact is true. And if you find any inaccuracies, correct them. Use our Sourcing Guide to help you figure out which sources are reliable.

Sourcing tips:

If you have access to a local or school library, that’s a great place to start when looking for sources! Ask a librarian for help if you need it.
Unfortunately, some online articles are “behind a paywall,” meaning they cost money to view or download. If you hit a paywall on a source, ask your instructor for help or see if your school or local library has access.
Pay attention to when articles and research papers were published—you don’t want to be sharing outdated research! Some sites even allow you to filter by the date published, which can narrow your search to the most recent information.

For more information about evaluating sources, check out Purdue Online Writing Lab or this doc from California State University, Chico about the CRAAP method. (Yep, they really called it that.)