A model or a celebrity scrubbed clean and dressed in regular street clothes is still very attractive. Add hairstyling, makeup, and clothes, though, and wow!  Add a few hours of Photoshopping, and double WOW!

An editor, to me, does for text what a hairdresser and makeup artist do for bodies--they bring out the best.  I've had a few opportunities to work with editors, both for technical and creative work.  My work has invariably improved each time.  Editors sharpen writing.  They help you choose just the right word or turn of phrase.  I showed something I was working on to Danton Remoto.  I wanted it to sound very uptown girlie.  I used the word "high-protein." He suggested "hi-protein" instead.  It was so minor, but suddenly the line wasn't just phonetically girlie, it was visually girlie as well. Good editors do that.  Your prose goes from being just a pretty girl to a supermodel.  That's what editors do.