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Back to Freelance

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

Having just spent three months working as a contract technical writer, I am happy to report that I completed twice the number of documents they were hoping for in two-thirds the allotted time. I am also happy to report that, having finished the contract with blazing speed and applauded success, I have declined another contract at Sony and am returning full time to my freelance writing and editing work.

I enjoyed the work at Sony, learning four new software programs for which I then wrote online help content for a knowledge base, but I found that I missed the variety that freelance entails. Not for me the monotony of writing about the same subject day in and day out. As a freelance writer and editor, I typically have 5-10 projects in house, which means that I get to juggle what I do on any given day. Boredom is never an option.

“Finishing” is also rarely an option because there is always work to be done. But I don’t mind that. In fact, I embrace the idea of the work floodwaters rising. The more the merrier. I am one of those people who can sit and immediately focus, whether for 15 minutes or 6 hours at a stretch. And, variety being the spice of life, my tastes are satisfied at every moment.

So thanks to Sony for the three-month experience, but welcome me back, freelance life! It’s good to be home!

Technical Writing for Sony

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I am currently working on contract at Sony USA in San Diego as a contract Technical Writer. It’s my task to write job aids and process guides for Customer Care agents. These are the front-line agents who receive phone calls from Sony customers, either to place orders or to deal with customer needs and complaints. Since the newly trained agents can’t be expected to know all aspects of the business, my documents will be available to them on an online knowledge base, which they can access during a phone call to find the procedures and answers they need to satisfy the customers.

The task involves using job aids that were created before, adapting them to the new software that will be used, and also interviewing the in-house subject matter experts, trying to take their hard-earned knowledge and put it on paper.

Because I’ve done technical writing for so many years, this is not a difficult task. Initially, the main concern was just getting published as much information as possible. Now, during the second phase, I will go back and concentrate on conceptualizing the documents, adding explanations about when certain processes are used, and the likely exceptions the agents will encounter. That’s the tougher job; I have to think like an agent and decipher what their needs might be and their thought processes under stress. Interesting and definitely the part of the task that I most enjoy.

Self-Publishing Works

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

Many of my clients are trying to get their books published. Most realize how difficult it is to get a book published through a renowned publishing company. As a result, they are looking into self-publishing.

One of the best sites I have found for self-publishing is Ron Pramschufer’s at http://www.selfpublishing.com. This is not a vanity press publishing site. Unlike vanity and on-demand publishers, Ron’s site helps authors to publish their books at a reasonable cost, with excellent results.

Ron’s most recent blog about self-publishing bemoans the fact that the vanity presses and on-demand publishers have convinced people that if you can put it on a computer, we can see that it’s published. Thus, says Ron, and I heartily agree, there is a tsunami of awful books hitting the market. These books are often horribly written, completely unedited, and rarely proofread. There is so much tripe floating in the waters of the printed word that it’s hard to find the real books, those worth reading and that have been carefully prepared for publication.

It doesn’t matter that a book gets published. That alone will not guarantee success. Success is never guaranteed, but an author has a better chance at achieving some financial success if the book he or she publishes is well written, carefully edited, and prepared free of errors before it is sent to an editor, agent, or publishing house. That takes time and money (editors don’t work for free), but in the long run, the potential for success is definitely enhanced.

Can You Spell Potato?

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

Many people for whom English is not the first language comment on the difficulties of learning English, with its multitude of rules and legions of exceptions to those rules, and with the seemingly arbitrary spelling rules we follow. For me, that is part of the fun of language, but I know that it drives others nuts.

When I was six, my grandfather taught me to spell fish as “ghoti.” I’ve loved telling people about this ever since.

“F” as in enouGH.
“I” as in wOmen.
“SH” as in naTIon.

This January, riding the tube in London, I came across another wonderful comment on English spelling.

Spell “potato” phonetically as: Ghoughphtheightteeau:

If PH can stand for P in hiccough
If OUGH can stand for O in dough
If PHTH can stand for T in phthisis
If EIGH can stand for A in neighbour (British spelling, remember)
If TTE can stand for T in gazette
If EAU can stand for O in plateau,

then the way you spell potato is PHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEU!

Sacrificing the “Little Darlings”

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

As a writer, it can be difficult to make those edits that you know are necessary to tighten your writing. As an editor, it can be painful to suggest such cuts to an author. Every author has “little darlings”–precious lines that simply make a writer sigh, delighted and satisfied with having written them.

But it is these very little darlings that should be cruelly stricken from your manuscript, scrapped for the sake of the whole. “Oh, I agree, this needs some editing,” an author might say, “but I can’t lose this line. I just can’t.” It’s too precious. Just as a writer must be willing to kill off the protagonist, so must the author be willing to sacrifice those precious lines.

As a writer, I can be cruel with myself, scolding and badgering, forcing myself to see my writing weaknesses and shortcuts. As an editor, it is my job (when I am doing content editing) to make writers see the same weaknesses and shortcuts in their manuscripts. But, with them,  I can’t be cruel. I must use tact and gentleness to persuade them of the truth. It’s what they pay me for. It’s what their writing needs. But it isn’t easy for either of us.

A recent client clung adamantly to three lines in her book, despite my reasoning and admonitions. It wasn’t until two other people entered the discussion that she finally admitted that those lines had to go: they were a slap in the face to the reader, completely out of character for the narrator and, thus, jarring for the reader.

Any lines that place the author at the forefront of the page must be stricken. Authors must remain invisible, and should certainly never rear up their heads and shout, Look at me, look what I wrote!

Thesis Editing

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

For several years now I have edited and proofed Master’s theses and Ph.D. proposals and dissertations for students at Pt. Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Recently, I’ve extended my services to students at Capella University, an online university. I edited a proposal for one student, who then recommended me to three others, one of whom so far has recommended me to another.

I find that I thoroughly enjoy editing and copyediting these research papers, both because I am skilled in editing (expert in APA style and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)) and also because of the variety of topics I encounter. One paper might concern African-American women and how long-standing experience with oppression has impacted their lives, leading to substance abuse. Another paper might concern the support and healing of couples who have suffered neonatal loss, with their child dying before birth or immediately after. A third might concern Hispanic men and the societal and cultural factors that lead to alcohol abuse. I learn a great deal while working on these papers, especially if I read some of the quoted sources to get a better understanding of what the students are trying to accomplish in their studies.

Meanwhile, editing in both APA and CMOS has become second-nature to me. I’m a natural editor. I think it’s genetic. I instinctively see and know what is correct or incorrect. It’s an odd gift, but it’s mine.

Career Faire

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

This past week, I participated in a Career Faire at my son’s high school, where I spoke to two classes about what it takes to make a living as a writer and editor. Following the class presentations, I spent three hours in the gymnasium speaking with passersby at the faire.

There were 30 students in each of the class presentations, 25 of whom were there by choice. As is to be expected, most wanted to write novels or screenplays but had no idea about the reality of publishing today. I explained that you can’t just plan to be a novelist and assume that you can make a living immediately through that writing. Using one of my best friends as an example, I spoke about Meg Gardiner (author of the Jo Beckett forensic psychology series and the Evan Delaney crime thriller series), explaining how it took seven years to get her first novel published, after she had worked on it for years prior to its completion, and how now, as her seventh novel is being published, she is finally picking up momentum and will soon make the kind of sales that will support a family and then some. This year, she also won the Edgar Award, the highest award in mystery writing, which will bring her great publicity.

My point was that a writer can’t just assume instant success once a novel or screenplay has been completed. Success depends on talent, but it also requires an enormous amount of perfect timing and luck.

Given that fact, I assured the students that they could indeed make a living as a writer, while they worked for and sought success as novelists or screenwriters. My handout listed some 20 different jobs in various fields where writers would be an enormous asset to any business. With businesses almost required to have a Web site now, writers and editors are needed more than ever.

When asked, I opined that an English degree was a marvelous first degree for anyone who planned to write for a living, but added that their best preparation, no matter what degree they pursue, is to read, read constantly and widely. To my great delight, the majority of the students were readers, though they admitted to a narrow range of material. I suggested that anyone interested in broadening their horizons email me, tell me about what they like to read and what interests them, and I would send a reading recommendation list. So far, one girl has taken me up on the offer.

One discouraging aspect of the students who stopped by the faire table was the widespread assumption that one could be a writer without knowing grammar and punctuation. My favorite comment from a young man, “I’m a poet, I don’t need to know grammar and rules like that.” What to say?

But overall, I was pleased with the questions I was asked, the interest the students showed, and the love I saw for the written word. Encouraging in this world of instant and abbreviated communication. Writers — and love of language! Excellent!