Sarah Hayhurst

Balancing Act (Part 2)

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Balancing Act (Part 2)

by Sarah Hayhurst

In Balancing Act (Part 1), Sarah Hayhurst shared insights on how to keep perfectionism from hindering your work. Take another look at Balancing Act, Part 1, then read on:

All that said, if you’re like me, you may consciously need to “settle” sometimes. I’m a bit OCD, and I can even rationalize that characteristic from the Bible! Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Its counterpart in 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, “All things should be done decently and in order.”

Chances are, none of us intends to perform shoddy or imperfect work. If God gets the glory when my work is excellent, I give it my absolute best 24/7, right? Well, sometimes doing my best in one area means that I neglect another. Try setting time limits for a task or project, then move on to something else when the time is up for the day. Who knows? Sometimes transparency could have more impact than perfection because your audience, too, is finite and can relate.

Here’s the thing. While it’s a biblical desire to do excellent work, I must strive continually for balance. Ephesians 5:16 speaks about “making the best use of time.” You and I are human and finite. God made us to require rest … maybe to remind us that we are not God.

Sometimes after investing my limited time and abilities into something, I must humbly launch the project, knowing that I did my best in the time I could invest. Otherwise, I’ll never be “done” with anything! Yet, in the complicated process of this stewardship and by God’s grace, I want to express love to others who are relying on me while bringing God as much glory as I can. Nonetheless, God wants me to surrender my need for control—for trying to be perfect with the end goal of achieving praise, acceptance, and comfort from people whom I fear disappointing.

No matter what challenges you are facing today as an editor or author, my prayer is for you to be encouraged. We all need hope!

Revel in Fellowship

First, revel in the fellowship of family and colleagues—whether through The Christian PEN or other groups for writers. Other people share in your struggles, and a time-out to focus on someone else’s needs can be a breath of fresh air.

Keep Moving

Second, keep moving; it’s the only way you’ll gain any momentum. That movement might be simply to allow yourself to take a break and do something else.

Know Your Limits

Finally, strive for balance and know your limitations. Accept your finite abilities as a gift, and trust in a sovereign God. Our inadequacies, including mushy brains and writer’s block, can be blessings in disguise to keep this life in perspective!

Sarah and her husband have been married for twenty-four years and currently reside in the Atlanta area with their three teenagers. While Sarah spends most of her spare time watching her children’s athletic events, she finds time to unwind by knitting, running, and playing piano.

Sarah is a gold member of The Christian PEN and Christian Editor Connection with whom she passed testing and demonstrated expertise in the proofreading, copy editing, and content editing of both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts as well as other content.

Balancing Act (Part 1)

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Balancing Act (Part 1)

by Sarah Hayhurst

You are an editor. You care about your projects and give 100 percent effort to each one. After all, people pay you to make things “perfect.” It’s your job.

But have you ever felt paralyzed because the manuscript in front of you, despite the author’s highest hopes, doesn’t have a chance at achieving the status of perfection? Or maybe you’re the writer. You keep refining your words, but your manuscript never seems to measure up to your aspirations or the work of another admired author?

The inability to achieve perfection often causes editors to procrastinate and writers to experience “writer’s block”—frozen by the fear of putting your imperfect ideas out there for everyone to see and critique.

While you rehash a manuscript over and over in your mind, you grow convinced only of the fact that every creative bone has officially left your body. Until creativity returns, your brain is nothing but mush as the deadline quickly approaches.

When the pressure to be perfect is overwhelming, editors and writers need internal, personal encouragement to do the next thing.

Let’s face it. For most editors and writers, your life consists of mainly you, your computer, and the manuscript. You work in a silo. You are alone most of the time with no audience cheering you on. If you are like me, your inner critic can become your worst enemy. Others are “naturals” at the craft, but you, on the other hand, have to agonize over each word as you rewrite and revise.

How can an editor or writer break the ice and generate the momentum necessary to accomplish the task at hand?

You may need a creative break or at least a cup of coffee in your favorite mug. Take a morning run … or an afternoon run if the day is slipping by. Change your environment by moving to the back porch or going to the library. You know what works best for you, but the key is to do the next thing. Movement generates momentum, so push through the paralysis.

Break down the tasks and make a list so you feel you’re actually accomplishing something. You must remember, despite the adage “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” that prioritizing is not the same as procrastinating.

And, of course, it’s always easiest to be yourself. Don’t try to sound like someone else, and don’t expect the first draft to be presentable.

Keep reading Sarah Hayhurst’s Balancing Act, Part 2. Subscribe by entering your email information (see right sidebar) to be sure you don’t miss any PEN Tips articles!


Editor. Writer. Coach. Sarah graduated as the valedictorian of her class in high school, earned an associate degree in secretarial science in 1991, and pursued a bachelor’s degree in communication arts in 2014, cum laude.

Sarah has enjoyed a variety of positions, such as editor/teacher for a publishing company, managing editor for a university, marketing director for a law firm, and computer/ESL teacher for a private school. These and other experiences make Sarah versatile today.

Closing the Loopholes in Communication

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Closing the Loopholes in Communication

By Sarah Hayhurst

Have you ever tried to communicate something that made complete sense to you, but the outcome was far from the anticipated result and left you scratching your head? Why does communication between the speaker and the listener break down oftentimes?

Communicators, in both oral and written communication, need to avoid assumptions about their listeners’ and readers’ knowledge. Their audience will not automatically fill in the blanks appropriately. Speakers, writers, and editors must consider the information they are sharing from a variety of standpoints in order to best express exactly what they intend to get across.

Elizabeth Newton, a Stanford University graduate student back in 1990, did an experiment with speakers, or “tappers,” and listeners. The tappers would tap out a familiar song, such as “Happy Birthday” or “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” The listeners were supposed to guess the song.

Can you believe that out of the 120 songs tapped out, the listeners only guessed three songs accurately? That’s only 2.5 percent! But, this is how Elizabeth earned her dissertation in psychology: the optimistic tappers expected the listeners to guess correctly 50 percent of the time.

The optimistic tappers inevitably sang along with the tune in their heads as they tapped their fingers rhythmically. Try it! You will, too. Meanwhile, the listeners only heard random, monotone Morse code without the benefit of any tunes running through their heads—in other words, without any knowledge to connect with the tapping.

Elizabeth concluded her experiment by showing how, once the tappers knew something, they could not imagine not knowing it. The knowledge essentially froze the tappers into an inability to consider what it sounds like from the listeners’ point of view.

To better understand people in oral communication, ask a question that confirms your understanding (“Does that mean … ?”) or restate what the speaker says in your own words (“So, you’re saying …”). When the speaker finishes, the listener can conclude with a phrase like thanks, okay, right, or I see.

In writing, it takes a lot more effort to find the balance between being too elementary or repetitive and being sufficiently thorough and explanatory. Of course, a writer has a particular audience in mind, but he or she cannot assume uniform common knowledge of the readership.

Embrace the challenge of saying what you mean while closing the loopholes of confusion or frustration in written communication. Readers do not have the benefit of voice inflection, body language, or eye contact. Everything is left to the interpretation of word upon word and line upon line as paragraphs and chapters unfold into a fiction plot or nonfiction message.

Nonetheless, the ability to recheck written work can ease this difficulty. Spoken words are immediately out there, whereas a good author is open-minded to the suggestions of editors, who act as liaisons between the authors and the readers. Attempt to clear up the clutter and ambiguity that can result from assumed knowledge.

Owner of Sarah Hayhurst Editorial LLC, Sarah enjoys taking manuscripts from good to great. She is a gold-level member of The Christian PEN and specializes in the copy editing of nonfiction manuscripts and content. Sarah and her husband have been married for twenty-four years and currently reside in the Atlanta area with their three teenagers. Whenever time allows, Sarah unwinds by knitting, running, and playing piano.

Authors: To Edit or Not To Edit?

Articles for Freelancers, PEN Tips

Authors: To Edit or Not To Edit?

By Sarah Hayhurst

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I love to read a book that is noticeably edited well. In contrast, content that has grammatical issues, formatting flaws, and communication blunders derails me from the author’s well-intended message. Granted, most editors likely have a keener sensitivity to such details than the average reader, but I believe that all readers are less distracted—even subconsciously—if the copy is clean of errors, pleasant to the eye, and effective. Clean copy gives readers the assurance that the message itself is accurate, excellent, and valuable—worth their investment of time to read.

If I am cooking a steak dinner for my husband on Father’s Day, would I go to all of the work to buy and prepare the food and then serve it on paper plates with plastic knives? No, I would serve hot dogs and chips that way if I were in a rush. Likewise, if a manuscript is polished well, it will reflect the value or worth of what it communicates. In other words, only hot dogs belong on paper plates … and even a hot dog could seem special if it were served in a warmed bun, neatly displayed with embellishments on a glass plate. If the information is valuable, authors should not stop short of excellence in the delivery.

If we determine that the information is valuable—a steak dinner, so to speak—then it deserves to be delivered with excellence. Chances are, if it was important enough for the author to write, it is important enough for the author to seek the expert touch of an editor as well. For example, if someone is excited about a job interview, they will dress up and present themselves well rather than show up in jeans and forget to brush their teeth or clean under their fingernails. While that seems so obvious, authors will sometimes disadvantage themselves by not wanting to invest time and money into a professional editor. The editor’s special touch might surpass any other effort to get the manuscript noticed, published, and sold!

We can conclude that the details of a manuscript speak volumes and that editors “do” details. And those details comprise an endless list: grammar, punctuation, spelling, syntax, pace, clarity, word choice and variety, antecedents, subject/verb agreement, and misplaced modifiers. Not to mention incorporating the specific rules and formatting guidelines found in the thousand pages of The Chicago Manual of Style, as expected by all publishers. Hiring an editor is not optional for a serious author.

I remember the day that I did not want to pay my dog’s groomer anymore. “It can’t be that hard,” I figured. After a trip to the store for the grooming set, I began cutting away. Several hours later, I was exhausted and bewildered while the dog feared for its life and looked like an electrocuted lion. I now give my dog’s groomer a big tip every time! Expertise is valuable—and the results are worth every penny invested.

Sarah pensive

Graduating with degrees in secretarial science and communication arts, Sarah has enjoyed a variety of positions, such as editor/teacher for a publishing company, managing editor for a university, marketing director for a law firm, and technology instructor/staff editor for a school. These and other experiences make Sarah a versatile editor today. Visit sarahhayhurst.com if you need assistance with your nonfiction manuscript or website content as these are Sarah’s specialties!

Style Guide Wars

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Style Guide Wars

By Sarah Hayhurst

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After investing four years into a BA in Communication Arts, I was surprised by the ongoing investment of time necessary to stay current and conversant in the ever-changing style guides of CMOS vs. AP. I say “versus” because at times it seems like they are diametrically opposed to each other. Did two editors who were at odds have a falling out which led to the creation of opposing style guides?

Have you had a client essentially argue the principles of one guide vs. the other in terms of right vs. wrong? Of course, the “arguments” continually drive editors back to the universal sources to dictate our decisions. These sources are even complemented by specific dictionaries. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition with its thousand pages chooses Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as its cohort while the much shorter Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2015 sides with Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

In addition to explaining our basis to clients, we might find ourselves avidly debating the guides with other editors. Seeking advice from other editors in regard to my interpretation of the principles is incredibly reassuring to me. What a blessing to be part of such a supportive organization of editors like The Christian PEN! Additionally, founder Kathy Ide wrote an excellent resource entitled Proofreading Secrets of Bestselling Authors. I recommend it to authors and editors for use as a quick reference tool for any CMOS vs. AP style “wars.”

While I embrace the use of universal guides, I had to do a little research to know for sure which guide I should follow for a specific project. Hands down, Chicago Manual of Style is expected by publishers of books, fiction or nonfiction, and I find CMOS to be most aligned with the Advanced Grammar course I took in college as well. However, AP style fills the niche of journalistic writing—press releases, newspaper articles, magazine articles, and blog articles. I have found in my personal experience that often a business or ministry will develop a brand-specific style guide for its website, but generally AP style is going to work well for a website since the articles posted on the site would follow AP style.

Nonetheless, tedious as the process might be, we are actually united by style guides rather than at “war” over them. They are invaluable resources—sources of sanity and confidence! Instead of working arbitrarily in silos, authors, editors, and publishers can align with the experts on the matter. I’m thankful for these tools because I have assisted clients who were unfamiliar with them and, therefore, who would have otherwise wondered if I were making it all up as I go! Instead, I am able to raise the “arguments” from personal preference or generational grammar rules to a higher plane of the current style guides. And that, in my opinion, is liberating to an editor who not only wants to be accurate but also desires to spend less time explaining edits to clients.

Sarah pensive

Graduating with degrees in secretarial science and communication arts, Sarah has enjoyed a variety of positions, such as editor/teacher for a publishing company, managing editor for a university, marketing director for a law firm, and technology instructor/staff editor for a school. These and other experiences make Sarah a versatile editor today. Visit sarahhayhurst.com if you need assistance with your nonfiction manuscript or website content as these are Sarah’s specialties!

Empathy: A Powerful Key

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Empathy: A Powerful Key

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You’ve all had that client—the one who wants you to edit for grammar without changing the words. Is it possible to avoid changing the words in an edit? After all, Merriam-Webster defines grammar as “the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language.” Recently, an editor shared how her client’s words were supposedly “inspired.” What do our clients really want from us?

I’ve come to the conclusion that empathy is a powerful key. Empathy—the ability to share someone else’s feelings, to see the world through the eyes of another—creates a win-win scenario for authors, readers, and editors.

Through reading fiction, a reader may encounter third-world countries, abuse, or the death of a child—all in response to the believable characters the writer developed. And in that manuscript, everything matters. Sentence length controls pace, word choice shows versus tells, syntax affects word flow, and so on. Through nonfiction, illustrations and examples engage readers, exposing anything from unrealized motivations to entirely different points of view.

Writers hire editors to align with and polish their message. If I were to focus on the client’s unintentional insult to “stick to the grammar,” I might conclude that my client is really hoping for an “as is” stamp of approval. Technically, they may be requesting a proofread rather than an edit. Without even consciously realizing it, they might be more fixated on the knowledge and opinion they want to impart than on what the reader understands or needs to know. In order to make my client successful, which is my ultimate goal, I may need to employ the power of empathy to best consider how the reader will respond to the content.

Readers invest in the work of authors who compel them to action or who craft stories to which they can relate. Helping authors craft their stories from the perspective of the character or the reader is not as simple as relating a story from my own limited perspective. In the final outcome, the reader is essentially more important than the writer because, after all, the reader usually is not forced or paid to read to the end of the article or manuscript. Writers must strive to connect with and create a positive emotional reaction from the audience. The extra effort, on behalf of the reader, requires a deep emotional intelligence informed by culture and experience.

Editors have the opportunity in their craft to help clients develop copy that is clear of distractions and laced with empathy in order to compel and spark connection with readers. And furthermore, when I consciously show empathy in my comments to authors and offer suggestions that begin with “Better?” or “Consider . . . ” those comments are usually welcomed.

Empathy, like creativity, is a muscle that must be exercised. The payoff is a mission accomplished for both the author and reader: more clicks, more engaging books, and more unforgettable connections.

Sarah pensive

Sarah is a contributing gold member of The Christian PEN and Christian Editor Connection with whom she passed tests and demonstrated expertise in the proofreading, copyediting, and content editing (substantive) of both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts and content. As a skilled and conscientious editor and writer with over twenty-five years of experience, Sarah offers professional services for projects of all sizes. Clients can be confident in the quality of their polished manuscripts, knowing that her editorial knowledge and skills developed over many years will be applied to their projects.

 

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