Interview With Developmental editor, Kate Watson: The People Who Helped Bring SHOT to Life

Every good book has a good editor. For SHOT, our editor was the co-creator of Upwrite Magazine and freelancer extraordinaire, Kate Watson. She helped so much with shaping the story, keeping my grammar in check, and cheering me on throughout the entire writing process. 

I spoke with Kate several weeks ago, as Part Two of my interview series: “The People Who Helped Bring SHOT to Life.” We discussed how her first non-professional editing gigs were fixing her friends' papers in junior high school, and why she feels SHOT is such a powerful story. Plus, she gave some killer advice for freelancers everywhere who are hustling to make a living. Hint: It’s a refreshing approach you may not have thought of . . .

Christy Krumm Richard:
I love this quote on your website where you claim that “approximately 65% of the feelings [you] have ever felt were toward books.” So, what is it about books that have impacted you so much?

Kate Watson:
I see books as a vehicle that can help people reexamine both who they are in the world, and how they feel. What’s amazing about books is that you can pick up the same book today that you originally picked up fifteen years ago and the story can still speak to you and move you. But it might be surprising how differently you react to it. That you notice new things this time around. 

Also, I think books are like artifacts. I can look back on different stages in my life and remember exactly what I was reading at that time. The memory of the book will transport me back there again. I guess it’s the same for some people who have a really sensual memory. They’ll smell something or see something and be taken back. For me, it's through reading. 

CKR:
Have you always wanted to be an editor?

KW:
I think all editors started out wanting to be writers. [Laughs]. From the the first time I ever edited anything, I knew I was good at it, but I wasn’t so sure that talent was a good thing. But I do love editing so much, and the minute I knew I could, I wanted to be an editor.

CKR:
And how did you realize you could edit?

KW:
Probably it started in junior high. I was editing people’s papers in junior high . . . I don’t know if that’s disturbing, or not. [Laughs]. Then I went through high school and I was an editor on the school newspaper -- I did all that lame, extracurricular stuff. But when I was in writing workshops at college, the part I enjoyed most was workshopping other people’s pieces. I enjoyed that almost more than writing my own.

CKR:
You studied at the Susequahanna Writer’s Institute, right? Did you major in Creative Writing? 

KW:
Yes, and my focus was actually on poetry. Which led to the lucrative career I have today [Laughs].

CKR:
So how does being an editor influence your writing, and vice versa?

KW:
I always tell clients that they can’t write like an editor. While it’s important to try and self-edit to some extent, when you’re in the writing phase, you just have to let that sensibility go. Because trying to generate new writing through somebody else’s lens won’t get you anywhere. At some point, you just have to get your thoughts down on the page and know that you can revisit them later.

And that is really hard for me as an editor! It’s a huge challenge because I have to get into a completely different mindset. On the other hand, as a writer, I would say my first drafts are probably cleaner than other writers, but I also think it takes me a lot longer to finish. 

CKR:
And you’ve been editing for how long now?

KW:
I have been freelancing since 2013. Before that, I did have some editing jobs, but I’ve been doing this “Kate Watson Writes” thing since 2013. 

CKR:
Do you have any advice for people who want to break into freelance editing, writing, and all that jazz?

KW:
Oh boy. [Laughs]. I guess what people talk about most right now is the issue of platform and brand, which is such a struggle, right? It’s gotten to the point where it feels like if you don’t already have a platform established, then why bother trying? But if anyone is of the praying persuasion, what I encourage them to do -- and what I have been doing myself -- is to pray that God will bring the right people into our lives. That is the new definition of platform I’m trying to live by.

CKR:
I love that! 

KW:
It only takes meeting one person, right? I mean, think about it. Who cares if you have 14,000 followers if none of them can help you in any tangible way? 

CKR:
So good. Now, let’s talk about the other side of the coin: Choosing clients. I know you said you will only work on three book-sized editing projects at one time. When an author approaches you, what is it that you look for that makes you want to say yes?

KW:
It’s really more about the person than the work they show me. Whenever someone wants to work with me, I do a sample edit. And the sample edit is partially to show what I can do, but mostly I want to see if that person has a teachable spirit. 

I can’t work with people that are going to become impatient with correction. Some writers don’t actually want a developmental editor, they just want someone who can look at their book and tell them it’s done. That would make things easier for me, of course. But it’s just not very interesting. It’s not the work I want to do. 

CKR:
In case people don’t know what developmental editing is, how exactly does it differ from other types of editing?

KW:
It’s basically a hybrid of writing coaching and craft editing. I do clean up manuscripts and I do look for certain things that are objective. Like, does the manuscript feel balanced? Is the story getting across? But, it’s also about having an advocate in your pocket to remind you as an author, “You are doing this, you are going to finish, and I know that you are close.” 

CKR:
That’s huge. That is so important. [Laughs]. 

KW:
Most writers don’t realize how close they are once they complete the first draft of a book. In reality, most never even get to the first full draft!

CKR:
Was there anything that interested you about working on SHOT, or about the story in general?

KW:
Since I grew up in a ministry family myself, I recognized a lot of the initial themes, like the calling Pete felt and the working of the spirit. Those were things I recognized from my childhood and I loved that. 

But I also think SHOT is unique in that wherever readers are in their spiritual quest, the book offers something for them to think about. And I love that. SHOT is about the way faith saves one man. But it’s also about how that one man’s faith intervenes and saves other people. And that’s one of the most powerful things we have access to.

Kate Watson is a freelance developmental editor who also writes about feminism, faith, and culture while her son watches YouTube videos late into the night. Like most New Yorkers, Kate is simultaneously passionate and nonplussed about just about everything. The one thing that she's not ambivalent about is investing the best of her time and energy into good people and good writing.