How I'm Slowly Becoming a Video Editor at 52+

Forget marathon sessions. My secret to learning a new skill is just half an hour a day.

Have you ever scrolled through Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, watched a slick reel, and thought, “I wish I could do that”? I’ve been there. For the longest time, video editing felt like a secret language spoken only by digital natives and creative pros. The software looked complicated, the tutorials were endless, and the thought of spending hours on a single clip was daunting.

But recently, I decided to bite the bullet. My weapon of choice? CapCut. And my mission? To finally learn the Gen Z magic of turning clips into compelling stories.

Let me be honest: it was intimidating at first. The first time I opened the app on my phone, I was greeted with a maze of timelines, buttons, splits, and effects. My initial attempts were… well, let’s just call them ‘humble beginnings.’ But I quickly realized a crucial thing: I don’t have the luxury of spending entire weekends on trial and error. Between work, life, and everything in between, my time is precious.

So, I created a new rule for myself: The 30-Minute Rule.

No pressure, no marathon sessions. Just a dedicated half-hour each day to learn one small thing. Some days, that’s following a YouTube tutorial step-by-step. Other days, it’s just playing with a new filter or seeing what all the buttons do.

Editing the videos on my desktop computer, using the CapCut Desktop tool, is so much easier and faster than doing it on my phone, at least for an aunty with ‘old flower’ eyesight.

And you know what? It’s working. The slow-and-steady approach is paying off. The fog is lifting! I’ve now confidently mastered the absolute basics: cutting videos precisely and adding text. It might sound simple, but seeing a clean cut and a nicely formatted title appear on my screen felt like a major victory.

My next conquest? Sound. I’m moving on to learning how to add music and import songs to get the vibe just right. There’s still a mountain of things to learn—transitions, keyframes, blurring objects, trendy effects—and it’s not always easy, but the daily 30-minute investment is making it feel achievable.

I’m also not going it completely alone. I’ve already enlisted a secret weapon: my daughter, Alycia. She’s a first-class honours graduate in branding and advertising and, quite frankly, a wizard at this stuff. Once she’s back from her overseas travels, I’ve put in a request for a masterclass. I’m hoping she’ll have a little patience to teach her old mom the Gen Z ropes!

So, what’s the end goal for all this? I’m thrilled to finally share it! Once I’ve built up my skills and my confidence, I’ll be launching a fan page on social media, filled with reels and videos. As a bit of a perfectionist, I want to make sure I can produce something I’m genuinely proud of before I showcase it to the world. I’m aiming for at least ‘half-perfect’ before I hit that publish button!

This journey has taught me a valuable lesson so far: you don’t need huge chunks of time to learn something new. Consistency trumps cramming every single time. Small, daily steps really do lead to big progress.

I’ll keep you posted on my CapCut adventures. Wish me luck!