The road to editing has been a winding one. It all started as I sat in the cramped counselor's office of a college I was touring during my junior year of high school. She asked what I wanted to study, and I gave her the same reply I'd given at all the other colleges my parents had carted me to. "I don't know."

 

My mom, who sat nearby, piped in. "We were thinking maybe English. She's good at writing."

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Resentment rose in my chest as the counselor began describing the school's English program. Momma had spoken for me. Again. Later, I would come to understand how she was gently trying to offer direction to my aimless course. But, of course, it didn't feel that way at seventeen. Sure, I was doing well in my English classes. I'd just passed the Advanced Placement test that gave me a jumpstart on some college credit. But the thought of timed in-class essays, writing a thesis, analyzing some literary work I could not yet appreciate -- none of that was appealing. It was work. And I didn't want more of it.

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I was good at writing, but riding was my passion. So, instead, I went to school and earned my bachelors degree in equine science -- once I convinced my mom there were career opportunities other than scooping manure. After college, I went to work managing the riding program at a Christian camp. For six months after graduation, I didn't write a single word. Then, a funny thing happened. As I sat in nature watching the herd of horses one morning, I felt inspired to write. That was when I discovered that writing could be creative. No grades, no word counts, no pressure.

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I spent the next ten years pursuing my equestrian dreams, first at the Christian camp, and later at a therapeutic riding program for children with special needs. But on the side, I joined a critique group, attended writers' conferences, and wrote. All along the way, God dropped little notes foreshadowing his coming calling. When the time came to swap my job and my hobby, the transition was almost seamless. My first official editing job was a collaboration with my mentor. I felt insecure at first. I didn't have the English degree or the impressive resume, only the affirmation of others and some academic success. It was clear from the beginning that it was God's blessing, not my own efforts, that built my business. I did pursue some formal training in those early days through the PEN Institute, but most of my experience has been "on the job."

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I love editing and the freedom it affords me. I love helping people. I love the variety each new story brings. But my favorite part is the transformation of a manuscript. I see past the punctuation and plot holes to the potential in stories, and I find fulfillment in the process of taking something unfinished or uncut or unedited and bringing it to publication. I love to help authors tell their story with excellence because I see editing as a ministry. It's my calling, and my way of contributing to the Kingdom. If seventeen-year-old me had known that this is what writing and editing could be like, I might have felt differently about my course. My mom saw that part of me before I ever did. You were right, Momma. Imagine that!