Macros.
Scary.
Too technical.
Outside my comfort zone.
I wish I understood exactly what they are.
I wish I knew more how to use them. I know they’d make my editing quicker…
Macros. One of those words I kept hearing over and over, and one of those things I knew I should take the time to learn about, for my own benefit. And one of those things that kept being bulldozed by paid work.
But I finally did it! Thanks to EASE’s Macro Magic Workshop run by Paul Beverley and Jennifer Yankopolus.
I admit, I’m quite a technophobe at heart. But after setting up my own small business I’ve had to be braver and a bit more adventurous in technical matters. Of course, there’s always help to be had – thank you, Alex at Nörtti paikalle – but you can’t outsource everything, and sometimes and you just have to step out of your comfort zone and get to grips with things.
I’ve attended a few webinars on macros in the past, and at the time, have been determined to add them to my box of editing tools. But after each course, I’ve fallen into the trap of – I’ll look into more it next week…I’ll look into it when I have more time…and then…..oh well, I’ve managed fine without them until now…so…one day….
It’s a slippery slope.
But this course was different. It was hands-on and practical. Paul and Jennifer guided us step by step so that we actually installed some macros on our own computers ourselves during the course, as opposed to just listening to a lecture on how to do it! For me, this was the most crucial element – I couldn’t postpone putting theory into practice any longer!
As well as teaching us to actually install macros, Paul and Jennifer gave us lots of useful tips, such as how to keep a record of which ones you’ve installed and how to back them up. Their method was practical and easy to understand. No pretentious, know-it-all, obscure instructions, just friendly guidance, from beginning to end.
What I most appreciated was the low-threshold approach. Paul repeated many times that the best way to learn to use macros is to take a couple at a time, and not to bite off more than you can chew. This is always my problem – I look at the great big mountain in front of me and feel it’s insurmountable, so I give up climbing before I’ve even taken the first step. But Paul encouraged us to break down tackling the macro mountain into stages.
And for me, this worked like magic.
I now use macros regularly, ones that I have installed myself (yey!). They help me enormously in my editing work. The key to the whole thing was starting to use them immediately, and only a few at a time. Now, while editing, I often find myself thinking – there must be a macro for that! And I have Paul’s excellent step-by-step instructions – which now make sense, as we worked through them together on the course – and his YouTube videos. His resources are all available for free, as he genuinely wants to spread the word and make editors’ and writers’ work easier. And really, this is not common these days – someone sincerely wanting to help and not charging for it!
(For more on Paul’s macros, see this)
Paul’s and Jennifer’s unassuming, friendly and genuine style was refreshing and motivating. I felt I could ask them anything without sounding stupid, and they never made me feel I was. I think this is one of the best courses I’ve ever been on – certainly the most useful and practical.
Thank you, Paul and Jennifer, for such a great learning experience, and thank you, EASE, for arranging it!
All you editors out there, if you haven’t yet mastered macros – let Paul and Jennifer teach you! It’s a few well-spent hours away from your paid work that you won’t regret taking!!
