Editing time

[Erica Abbott]

Hello everyone! I have been curious about this for a while, but it never occurred to me until today to post it on here for opinions. I would really like to know where I stand in this part of reporting.

If you could answer stating how many pages an hour you edit (i.e., 20 pages an hour, so a 100 page job would be around 5 hours to edit), and how long you have been working; I think that will really help me gauge where I should be and if I need to change something, etc. I just really want to be the best reporter, and it's very hard when you're isolated from other reporters to know exactly what you should and shouldn't be doing.

Thank you so very much! I anxiously look forward to the responses!!!

My editing is:
*20 to 30 pages/hr
*I have been working approximately 2 1/2 years
(Is this bad/excessively long editing time!?!)

[Erica Abbott]

When you say "30 pages in an hour average density transcript," does that mean editing, proofing, spell check; basically, the complete and final product at 30 pages an hour?

[Devon Roberts]

Hi Erica,

Feel free to let me know how many of the hyperkeys you are using with Eclipse by sending an email to me at [e-mail].
I may be able to suggest some new ones you can incorporate which will improve your editing time. :)

Ms. Devon Roberts
www.joyfulscoping.com
[e-mail]

[Mary E. Dutra]

I think a lot depends upon the content. Is it dense? Easy (auto accident)? Fast? Participants well behaved and not interrupting each other? I've been reporting 18 years and I can scope an easy job at 40 to 50 pages an hour. The number of pages goes down from there, depending on the factors listed above. But that doesn't count proofreading it if you're doing that yourself too (which I don't recommend).

When I was in court-reporting school, I was taught for every hour of depo taken you'll spend two to three hours editing and proofreading the job. I think that's pretty accurate.

It seems like you're doing fine for your 2-1/2 years of experience. You're probably still making quite a few entries in your dictionary. Hope that helps.

[Lisa Migliore Black]

You're right on track at 20-30 an hour. Good job!

For the easier, very clean files, I've found that the fastest I can read is about 60-65 pages an hour, which would be as fast as I can scope a cleanly written file with little to no research for names and proper spellings. I'll need to take speed reading classes to do any better than that personally.

I usually estimate 25 pages an hour when I look at a project's completion time just for the scoping. That factors in time for interruptions and breaks, and it makes for easy math.

Almost everything goes to my proofreader. I like a second set of eyes on all of my stuff because I don't want to overlook the same mistakes, and I've also found that my skills have atrophied a bit, since I rarely exercise that muscle after years of sending things off to a proofreader. What I send the proofreader is near perfect copy, and I only go through the file once thoroughly. If being thorough means a 15-page-per-hour pace or a 30-page-per-hour pace, it's still more efficient than going through it twice.

[Dan P. Clark, CSR (4793), RPR]

Erica,
It sounds like your right on the mark. I think we do a disservice to ourselves when we try to compare editing time. So very much depends on the job itself. I've had PI cases that in my mind are going to be out in an hour and a half, and then I meet the witness and that flies out the window. On the other hand, I've taken doctors' deps that I got out quicker than the PI. You just never know -- and I suppose in some ways that's what keeps us coming back for more! Good luck.

[Erica Abbott]

A life?? What is that? I seem to have forgotten. lol

[Sherry Glascock]

WHAT?! 40-50 pages an hour! Geesh, I'm lucky to get 10 an hour.
"Mom, can I have a sandwhich?"
"Mom, can you help me with my homework?"
"MOM! MOM! He took my toy!"
Phone rings.
Kid's friend comes over.
"MOM!"
Dog has to go outside.
"Mom!"
Doorbell.
"MOM!"
Reply to CSRnation.
"MOM!"
Husband calls. "How's it going? Getting work done?"

All kidding aside, I do all of my own editing. I use a proofreader. I average 30 pages an hour - WHEN THE KIDS ARE IN SCHOOL!