Working through Turbulence
- Jan
- 21
- 2019
- Posted by Tammy Ditmore
- Posted in Editing, personal reflections
Once again, Liz Dexter has done me a favor by featuring eDitmore Editorial Services in her “Small Business Chat Update” on her LibroEditing website. Hard to believe, but this is the seventh time I’ve participated in these chats, which Liz began to help small business owners learn from each other.
Over the years, I have found these updates extremely beneficial as they prompt me to take stock in my past year and think about the future. This year provided an even bigger opportunity—a chance to publicly discuss some traumatic experiences that happened in my community in November. Answering Liz’s questionnaire allowed me to put those events in some sort of perspective about how they affected me and my work. As I told Liz, these events taught me lessons I never wanted to learn about how trauma and stress can affect my ability to focus, which is essential to editing and writing.

Tragedy, Followed by Tragedy
In November, a gunman walked into Borderline, a popular nightspot in a few miles from my house and murdered twelve people, including a sheriff’s deputy and a young woman who was a student at Pepperdine University, where my husband is a professor and my son is a student. Less than 24 hours later, wildfires ripped through both sides of our southern California community, threatening our home in Newbury Park and thousands of others in surrounding cities and neighborhoods. My husband and I were rousted out of bed by a 3 a.m. phone call warning us that the our neighborhood was in danger and in a mandatory evacuation zone, so we packed up what we could and left. Our son spent a long day and night helping to run an emergency shelter at the Pepperdine campus in Malibu, as flames from the Woolsey fire burned to the edge of campus and within a few yards of his apartment.

We were able to return to our home in less than 24 hours, but the fires continued to burn for days, shifting and growing as high winds whipped them unpredictably, pushing them in new directions. Although our neighborhood and the Pepperdine campus ultimately were spared from major damage, the fires burned through large swaths of the community, killing three people, destroying more than 1,000 homes, and scorching tens of thousands of acres of state and national parkland, campgrounds, hiking trails, vineyards, and open space.
It’s difficult to adequately describe the impact these overlapping events had on our lives and on the lives of our friends and neighbors. Thousand Oaks is a fairly small place, so it felt like everyone knew someone who died or was in the club at the time of the shooting. Our son knew two of the young men who were killed and others who had escaped by jumping through second-floor windows. And everyone had a story to tell about leaving their homes in the middle of the night or as flames roared toward them. About 75% of Thousand Oaks and neighboring cities were under mandatory evacuation orders at some point during the Hill and Woolsey fires.
A couple of nights after we had been allowed back into our neighborhood, my husband and I attended a memorial for one of the young men who had been killed. We stood in the park where our children had played many a soccer game, listening to a grieving father while we watched water-dropping helicopters attacking flames that had topped a nearby ridge.
No Focus
Although my family and our home remained physically safe, I was deeply shaken by both the shooting and the fires, and I found it impossible to concentrate enough to edit or write for several weeks. I couldn’t stop thinking about the grieving families or seeking out information about the fires or visiting damaged sites. Fortunately, my clients were completely understanding—coincidentally, two of them were authors writing about traumatic events in their lives, and one gave me advice about dealing with my own stress.

I was able to focus and work again eventually, but it took me much longer than I had expected. Ultimately, I learned that I cannot force concentration in times of stress and that berating myself for my lack of productivity only makes things worse. I had to give time and attention to myself, my family, and my immediate community before I could find any attention span for work.
I know these kinds of events do not affect everyone the same way, so I can’t compare myself to how someone else reacts. But I have realized that I simply must respect my own feelings and start from there.
It’s been a tough lesson to learn—and it’s one I hope I don’t have to practice very often.

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This book has been a major effort for me over the past 15 years—both emotionally and in time commitment. Your feedback helped me give it structure. Your insightful questions encouraged me to go deeper in my understanding and intentions, which provided enhanced clarity. Your recommendations provided a professional perspective that I needed towards getting it published. Thank you so much! When entertaining any future writing projects, you will be the first person I contact.
I can’t believe my good fortune to have found Tammy to edit my nonfiction book. I had narrowed down my editor search to ten; then I took advantage of their free sample offers. Nine of the editors were okay. Tammy’s edit, however, really showed her strength for detail and content development. I was absolutely wowed. She suggested, for example, how to improve the Introduction’s hook, added sentences that clarified a paragraph’s thought better, and deleted unnecessary words. She also mentio… Read more
Tammy Ditmore is an excellent editor. My writing improved grammatically, in structure, and clarity under her skilled eye.
I had a book manuscript that had a thorough edit by a copy editor, but there were many changes made and I wanted another set of eyes to look at it carefully. So I hired Tammy Ditmore to do a “final” proofread and flag anything that she found awkward, confusing or ill-fitting. That is a difficult job—to look both for errors and to comment, but that is what I needed. Tammy took it on and did a great job. Tammy also understands a schedule and finished the work on time—even ahead of time. Thank … Read more
Tammy Ditmore was the consummate professional. She was very humble in dealing with me and tailored her editing style to fit my specific needs. She was prompt and punctual with deadlines and was very open to communicating with me. I would hire her again in a heartbeat.”
Tammy is just amazing. Before my book made it over to Tammy, I had used two editors — one a well-known author in NYC. I was unhappy with the editing, and basically Tammy was my last try before I just set my book to the side. Not only did she totally understand my “voice,” but she reconstructed, added, and melded in ways I would have never considered. Use her, trust her. She’s the best!
I appreciate Tammy’s willingness to ask questions when appropriate, flex on deadlines, offer sound advice, and rewrite sentences or sections as needed. Her command of substantive and copy editing make Tammy an asset to any project.
Tammy Ditmore edited my book, The Quest for Distinction: Pepperdine University in the 20th Century. It was a huge assignment, requiring skills that set her apart from most professional editors. She recognized the key themes of the manuscript immediately and proceeded to examine each paragraph, actually each word, in light of those themes. The result was a briefer, more coherent manuscript that will be read with greater interest and understanding.
Tammy’s approach to editing was like telling a story to someone who listens very well and offers suggestions only when something is confusing or grammatically incorrect (or embarrassing).
I’m so deeply honoured that taking part in my business chats for all these years helped you to express these feelings when it came to this year’s update. I hope you continue to heal and process these awful events.
Thanks, Liz! Your series have been a great help to me over the years!