What Writers Don’t Understand About Editors

You’re on the same team

If there were no editors, writers would be very happy. We would publish every boring story we wrote. We would fill our work with fluff and typos with no one to tell us to write better.

We would publish articles with thick chunks of paragraphs that the audience would never read. If nobody mentions it, we don’t improve. But still, we would be happier.

We would be happy because we would go about life with massive egos never having experienced rejection. We would never see how rejection helps us grow. Editors make writers’ lives so difficult. I’m sure we’d be happier without the editor.

Editors don’t allow writers to be themselves. When editors edit, they change our voices. Writers would be so much happier without the editor.

But as a writer, do you really understand the duties of the editor and why they do the things they do?

The Writer/Editor Relationship

The relationship between an editor and a writer is a very important but tricky one. When a writer and an editor understand each other, they can really create beautiful pieces of art.

But when a writer misunderstands the editor, it creates a lot of problems for both the writer and the editor. But an editor’s job is needed and a writer will suffer without the editor.

Without a good editor, the writer would never know the places they can improve. They’d never know rejection so they won’t be pushed to learn. Without a good editor, everything we write will be published, even when it really belongs in our drafts a little while longer.

Duties of the Editor

An editor is responsible for ensuring the accuracy and quality of an article. An editor edits copy and improves it. The main goal of an editor is to ensure that an article is the best it can be.

An editor educates writers on best practices to improve the flow of an article. Editors work with writers and help their stories succeed by offering constructive criticism, helpful comments, and some encouragement. They may offer suggestions to improve the material.

But this may make the writer feel as if the editor is telling them what to do and writers don’t like that at all. We are writers and we know it all — that’s why we write. Editors make us very unhappy.

An editor has the ability to improve on other people’s work. The editor does this by paying attention to little details the writer may miss. An editor is a critical reader the writer needs.

As a writer, we may miss little things when we write but editors make us very unhappy when they catch and correct those little things. As a writer, every word counts.

Editors are responsible for checking facts, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. They are also responsible for ensuring that an article corresponds with style guidelines and feels polished and refined when done.

But writers read before submitting articles, you know. We’ve already checked our work for typos and stuff, but the editor still goes looking for them to help our article do better. We might be happier if you leave our typos and grammar mistakes alone.

A fearless editor steps in and cuts out unnecessary words, sentences, and even paragraphs if its presence harms the quality of the story. This means an editor will delete unnecessary sentences that have nothing to do with the point of the article. Editors aren’t afraid to cut, but this makes the writer very unhappy. Writers hate it when the editor cuts.

Writers hold on to unnecessary words, sentences, and paragraphs because we spent time writing. Even if there are parts that really suck, an editor makes the writer very unhappy when they cut our boring phrases.

Editors plan, revise, and coordinate material for publishing in a publication. They review story ideas to determine which is most likely to please readers. This makes writers very unhappy and we might even remove our story if the editor doesn’t publish it right away.

An editor may also edit titles and headlines. They may also suggest headlines and titles that might strike a reader’s attention.

How dare the editor edit our titles? Leave them alone even when they score 9% on the headline analyzer. We don’t care. Don’t touch our headlines. We love them just the way they suck.

They may rewrite the text so an audience may easily understand what has been written.

Oh no. You did not. The editor didn’t just rewrite my text. Who do they think they are to rewrite what I wrote? It’s hard to read and everything, but doing this makes writers very unhappy.

You're on the Same Team

The editor doesn’t hate you. They’re not trying to make you feel small. They’re not trying to make you unhappy. Your editor isn’t your enemy. You are on the same team.

Can you change your perspective? Can you see things a little differently? Can you understand your editor is your friend and wants to see you do well?

The editor doesn’t want to see you fail. They want you to write better. They want to see you grow to be the writer they know you can be. You need an editor to look over your work. A fearless one for that matter. Not one who says nothing and watches you remain average.

You shouldn’t want to be average. You should want to be the best and your editor has your back. But they might get tired of dealing with your bad attitude, dear writer. Because editors are human too, with a very important role to play.

Writers need editors. Say thanks to an editor today.

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