The writer should tell the editor what kind of reading the writer needs, a quick scan to check the lead, focus, voice, form, order, documentation. A macro reading for pace, proportion, and structure. Writing is more often improved by identifying and extending what works than by correcting error. What needs work. Many times I begin to see solutions as soon as the problem is identified and do not need to be told how to solve it.
Suggestions can be helpful but they also can limit the writer's involvement.
The writer should know more about the subject, the history of the story's writing, than the editor, and the solution should rise from the story not from the editor's experience with other stories. I work best if the editor allows me to collaborate on a story, suggesting what needs to be done and expressing confidence I can do it rather than telling precisely what to do. When an editor trusts me, I may be able to trust the editor. He was a writer for Time magazine before free-lancing as a magazine writer in New York City for seven years. He has served as writing coach for The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal, and other newspapers.