Do you ever wonder if your writing is “good enough”?

Do you want to do this writing thing right and know you need an editor, but worry it won’t be worth the investment? And are you worried if you do hire an editor, they won’t get your work, or they’ll sterilize your voice?

You’re not alone. Almost all writers face these fears.

But when editing is done right, it makes the author’s voice shine. It sees into the heart of the writer and coaxes their story into brilliance. It’s an art. This is the type of editing I specialize in.

I'm a conceputal and developmental editor who believes writers become better storytellers through study and practice and that editors owe a duty of care to help writers with specific and supportive guidance. I help fiction and nonfiction clients write epic stories that matter. 

Through the Writership Podcast and the Captain’s Blog, I support fiction writers in mastering the craft of writing, and I offer editing services to help writers turn their good stories into great ones.

As a conceptual and developmental story editor, Leslie Watts helps fiction and nonfiction clients write epic stories that matter. She believes writers become better storytellers through study and practice and editors owe a duty of care to help writers with specific and supportive guidance.

She has hosted the Writership Podcast and served as an instructor and mentor to editors and writers. She has written craft-focused articles and books, including Point of View, Conventions and Obligatory Moments (with Kimberly Kessler), What’s the Big Idea? (with Shelley Sperry), and a masterwork analysis guide to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point (with Shelley Sperry).

She has been in love with words since the sixth grade, when she wrote and published a magazine about cats. After a detour as a lawyer, she returned to her true calling as an editor and author, and couldn’t be happier. With more than twenth years of writing practice backing her up, she shares specific, supportive guidance with writers to help them become better storytellers. She lives on the coast of Maine with her husband, two children, and two cats with plenty of stories of their own to tell.