I’m editing again this week and I can tell you right now that there aren’t a lot of plot twists in a proposal to the federal government. I couldn’t even find any death panels. So what’s a girl to do when her editing project is less than magically exciting? Especially when this is a final proof and you’ve read most of these 700 pages before? Here’s how I’m amusing myself:

I clearly need to wax my long white mustache.

Reading Out Loud – Legalese and government speak becomes marginally more exciting when you read it in a dramatic voice. Just don’t try it on all 700 pages or risk a seriously dry mouth.

Incorporating it into Fiction – Just like with people, legal documents are really only boring until you get to know them. Though I can’t go into it here due to my no-talking-specifics-about-clients policy, I have learned quite a bit about some government issues that you hear about on the news all the time but never really think about. And they are fascinating! I wrote a flash fiction fleshing out the human side of one of the legal concepts that I’ve been learning about.

Making Up Questions About It – This is actually something I would have done anyway. When you are writing a grant proposal or government proposal, it’s easy to forget your audience among all the detail they are trying to squeeze out of you. So after I finish every section, I pretend I’m Joe Blow Public (which is easy, because I basically am), and ask a few questions about it. I’ve caught a few vague sections this way.

Any editors out there have advice on what to do when editing a rather tedious piece of legalese? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments.