Writing

Editors On Medium Don’t Get Enough Credit

It’s a shitty job, and actually no one has to do it

Being one of the thousands of volunteer editors on Medium seems like a thankless job, because let’s face it, it is a thankless job. It’s a bit like being a high school hallway monitor, or a prison snitch but without all the fabulous perks. Sure, you get all the headaches of managing the irrational, psychopathic behavior of unhinged writers, but with none of the hazard pay usually associated with such a job. But you do it because you love of words and language and ideas. Right?

“A good editor is someone who cares a little less about the author’s needs than the reader’s.”

― Dene October

As writers we too often think of editors as being little more than a tool or service for the writer to lean on. Someone to help shepherd the writer, or even the piece itself, along the path to publication. There are, in fact, many examples of great working relationships between writers and editors, collaborations of skill and talent, that have resulted in the publication of masterpieces. But ultimately this is a faulty understanding of the editor’s purpose.