Ptsd Interfering With Professional Obligations

[zeropoint]

I'm pretty stressed about a current professional situation, and I don't know how to handle it in a way that is professionally ethical but also offers self-care.

I am a writer and editor. I took on a new freelance client, agreeing to proofread his (long) manuscript as well as tighten up the language. From the start, I saw that this would be more time-consuming than though since his writing skills are quite poor.

I was a bit over halfway through the project when my apartment caught fire. I escaped and was treated for smoke inhalation, but it was a few days before I could go back in to get my laptop, cell phone, etc. In the meantime, I emailed the client to let him know what was going on, and he suddenly became quite demanding and accusatory. He wanted me to tell him the exact page I had been editing when the fire broke out, and he was mad that he could only call me at the hotel where I was (because I didn't have my phone), etc. I was getting pretty irate, but some other writer/editors convinced me that professional ethics bound me to finish the project and try to smooth this over.

He and I patched things up a bit and I agreed to finish the editing, which he seems to want asap. However, since the fire, it's not as easy for me to focus as I would like. Plus I just don't physically have the energy, especially since my sleep has been so disturbed.

I have 140 pages left to edit. Given how many changes I've been averaging per page, that's at least 6 more hours of work. I don't want to damage my reputation as an editor by saying I can't finish, but I also don't want to push myself really hard to get this done. I don't think he would be understanding, whatever I tell him, whatever I do. I'm already quite nervous about it taking me so much longer than anticipated.

How do you think I should proceed? Thank you.

 

[Kintsugi]

Hm. Was there a definitive timeline set for the project, or a projected deadline?

I'm also wondering exactly how poor of a writer he is. In my short experience, editing for someone who is a pretty obviously unskilled writer, well, let's just say they don't know what to expect. Are you just copyediting, or content too?

I would personally go ahead and tell him that you will finish the project, but your circumstances call for a reasonable timeframe, and I would point out that editing requires extreme attention to detail if you are intending to get it done right, so rushing the project through may not be in his best interest.

I charged extra for a rushed timeframe (two weeks, 440 pages) for a very, very, very bad writer. Often, she didn't understand basic questions I asked about some of her "stylized grammar" (if I'm being extra generous with my wording), and it led to her not really questioning my work. Maybe his expectations need adjusting, or maybe he's putting up a front as a first-time amateur novelist trying to put up a tough front?

I'm going to go ahead and add that he is the one who sounds unprofessional here to me. Does he think there was no fire or something, that you're trying to get off the hook? It sounds completely ridiculous to me. People in this much of a rush... they seem to think editors wave a magic wand that makes a manuscript publishable, and they're going to get picked up right away or something.

I'm very sorry to hear about the fire. Glad you got out okay.

 

[zeropoint]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Like I said, I feel like he will be unhappy whatever I do, so sucking it up and saying I need more time is a good idea.

As far as what he expects from me editing-wise, it started as a basic proofreading job (and even that would have taken longer than expected) but he also said he needed help "improving flow" in a few places. I am trying not to "improve flow" more than was in the job description, but this is still huge.

Also, I feel there was some misrepresentation about the size of the job. The MS is 625 pages, which includes a decent amount of articles and the full transcript of a court trial. He said that since I wouldn't have to worry about those pages, the total number of pages I would actually be editing was 180. I haven't counted to be sure, but I feel like I have already edited far more than 180. Plus in skimming one of the included articles, I found a lot of errors that I doubt were part of the original, so I wrote him asking if he copied and pasted or typed from a document. At first he said "Just finish the job and then we will talk about that" but I told him I needed to know whether or not to edit that text, and he said to go ahead and do it.

I also thought he was being unreasonable, especially since I communicated with him as soon as I could and explained the phone thing.He asked for the name of my hotel and my room number, but of course I did not give him the room number. I also reminded him that I was working under my real name and he could easily Google me and I even offered to give him the fire incident number. At one point I just said, "What would you like me to do?" and he wrote back "I don't do business this way." So I think his needs and expectations are really nebulous (which means impossible to satisfy). Mostly I decided to patch things up and agree to finish on the advice from folks on a writer's forum, but I didn't expect finishing to be so hard. As you can tell, this would be a really difficult project even without any extra life stress along the way.

 

[Wounded Scribe]

@zeropoint unless it was arson, this fire was beyond your control, and any reasonable person should understand. In this day and age of self published writers, there seems to be an abundance of writers, compared to editors. I would politely remind this writer you are thankful you escaped fire with life and limb, it was beyond your control, and after this project is finished, you will no longer work with the writer. I think if you tell this writer you are going to fire him after the project is finished, you will send a message.

 

[zeropoint]

Thank you, @Wounded Scribe . You're right that I don't have to kiss up to him when he's being awful. I just don't know if I should finish this project or tell him I can't. The money would be nice and I know it'd be more professionally sound, but I also can't imagine getting through 140 more dreary pages and also all the time that would require.

 

[Wounded Scribe]

@zeropoint I would go ahead and finish the project at your pace. If your writer is unhappy about the pace, and wants to pull the project from you, well, that's on the writer. If you don't finish, I fear that may harm your reputation. But please don't lose sleep over an impatient blow hart that seems to have an inflated sense of his importance in the grand scheme of things. Rational people would understand, fire's are traumatic, we're all thankful you're among the living still. 2 children passed in a fire here in our community a week ago today. You're doing do diligence, and you're trying to finish the project, as best as you can. After the project is finished, I'd fire the writer and tell him you will no longer accept his business. Again, if he's self-published, and not a traditional writer with a publisher, he'll have to look and hunt for another person to fill in that gap for future work. Fire the writer. You're health is more important. I'm sure you'll have no problems finding more writers in need of your professional services. If anyone questions you about the incident, and after a brief explanation should this come back to you, more writers and peers would applaud your dedication to getting the job done as best as you could given the circumstances.

 

[zeropoint]

Thank you, @Wounded Scribe. That gives me a palpable sense of relief.

 

[Wounded Scribe]

@zeropoint that's good ;) remember, you are a commodity. You are in demand. Your health demands you work at a pace where you can coexist with it until it's ready for you to pick up the pace.

 

[ghotiff]

I agree with the others.

Maybe write an email stating that due to the fire and the resulting short term health impact (be vague on this bit) that your expected completion date is X (put a really comfy date here based on looking after yourself). Then say that if his needs requires a more urgent approach you understand if he needs to withdraw his job from you.

You can then kind of hope he does :)