Dear Young Editor,

You stand in a place of false assumption if you believe that, when a writer writes, the reader is not kept in mind. An editor’s role is not to assume that the writer was oblivious of the reader, rather, it is to discover which reader the writer had in mind when creating the piece Knowing your audience and how to push the created piece of work towards that audience should always be a constant itch in the editor’s mind. This usually means that the reader in the mind of the author at the point of creation, and the reader at the point of editing, may be two different people, so a good advice is to let your writer be your second master and guide you. Your job is, not to be an enforcer of what is proper work of creation, but to be an emergency button to employ when control is lost.

When we think about work, we wish to see meaning in the work we do. For an editor, the creation of a type hell for the writer is a trap that is easy to fall into. The writer therefore finds himself, like the mythical Sisyphus, being punished by the gods to push the same rock up a hill only to watch it roll back to hit him and, as if that is not tragic enough, having to repeat this action. In other words, making the writer’s work feel futile, by editing the work in such a manner that the work never feels like the writers own. If the editor must request for a rewrite, such rewrite should be on questions of writing style or flow of information, and the editor should exercise restraint in order not to create a different work than the writer imagined, thus removing his sense of progress. The writer becomes cynical with each re-write by the editor and, thus, demotivated.
Positive motivation must be kept in mind when editing a work. It is beyond the monetary payment you or the publishing company you work for may provide the writer. The challenges, ownership, identity and pride of the work from both sides help in creating a meaning work, thus a balance must be reached.

Do no harm. Be confident in your skills to not be an enforcer of rules but a subtle magician whose greatness lies in the sleight of hand. You are the champion of the writer not a villain that he must overcome in order to get published. Discerning readers look for reasons to trust a writer and reasons not to.
Inelegant expression and carelessness in the details are two reasons not to. If you are not protecting the writer from discriminating writers, then you are already failing at your job. The relationship between a writer and an editor affects the work in many ways. Familiarize yourself with your writer so the voice in the work is easy to identify, when editing.

Great writers do not necessarily make great editors. Many people may see editing as a far simpler skill than writing. Depending on where your talents lie on the divide, this may be true. Sometimes if you are lucky you may be blessed with both skills. This enables you to be more tolerant of errors that may jump out at you even after you asked the writer to edit, because it is easy for the writer to convince you on the essential nature of the information, style or even grammar, which you would otherwise perceive as mistake. It also enables you edit silently, in a way that the writer may not even notice the changes done to the work.

A style guide is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization, or field. (It is often called a style sheet, though that term has other meanings.) A style guide establishes and enforces style to improve communication. Know the style guide for whatever material you are editing. Also make sure the writer knows the style guide so the writing is done with that in mind. If your organisation does not have a style guide, adopt one from a publication whose writing you admire. While following a style guide helps your process, remember that there are exceptions.
While there must be structure to language, we must agree that language itself is dynamic. We take these rules from traditions, but also from common sense. Be meticulous, not rigid or tyrannical. Know the rules to be flexible on and the ones to not compromise on. If there is reason why that style is inappropriate for the document, make your arguments (always explain your motives- the solution would be less easy to reject if the problem is understood by both parties) and perhaps the writer will see reason.

A modern English usage dictionary is another tool that will greatly help the editor and the writer, especially if they have the same dictionary. This is more so because linguistic meaning cannot be separated from the interpretive act. In some ways, it is also a style guide, but one as to the use of language rather than to the format of writing.
An editor is a gift to the writer not an exploiter of his insecurities. Sleight of hand is the editor’s best tool.

Your Sincerely,
Writer