La editora dijo que la periodista volverá a escribir para la revista el mes que viene.

Dijo is the preterite form of decir, meaning said.

• decir = to say / to tell
• dijo = he/she said

The preterite is used because the editor’s act of speaking is presented as a completed event in the past.

So:

• La editora dijo... = The editor said...

If it were dice, it would mean says and refer to the present.

After verbs like decir, Spanish often uses que to introduce what someone said.

So the structure is:

• dijo que... = said that...

This is very common in Spanish. English can sometimes omit that, but Spanish normally keeps que:

• She said that the journalist will write again
• La editora dijo que la periodista volverá a escribir

Leaving out que here would be incorrect.

Because volver a + infinitive means to do something again.

So:

• volverá a escribir = will write again
• literally: will return to write

This is a very common Spanish structure:

• Volvió a llamar = He/She called again
• Voy a leerlo otra vez and Voy a volver a leerlo can both mean I’m going to read it again

So escribirá would only mean will write, while volverá a escribir specifically adds the idea of doing it again.

Because the writing is still being presented as a future action.

Spanish does not always backshift tenses the same way English often does. In this sentence, the editor spoke in the past, but the journalist’s writing is still located in the future:

• La editora dijo... = past
• la periodista volverá... = future

This is especially natural when the future time is still genuinely future from the speaker’s current point of view, as with el mes que viene.

You may also see volvería in some contexts:

• dijo que volvería a escribir

That usually corresponds more closely to said that she would write again.
So:

• volverá = still presented as future
• volvería = future from that past viewpoint / more reported-speech style

It means to do something again.

In this sentence:

• volverá a escribir = she will write again

More examples:

• Volví a verlo = I saw him again
• ¿Vas a volver a intentarlo? = Are you going to try again?
• Nunca volvió a hablar del tema = He/She never spoke about the topic again

It is one of the most useful everyday Spanish patterns.

Here para means for, in the sense of working for or writing for a publication.

• escribir para una revista = to write for a magazine
• trabajar para una empresa = to work for a company

So para la revista means the journalist will write for the magazine, as a contributor or writer.

Using en la revista would change the meaning:

• escribir en la revista can mean to write in the magazine, focusing more on where the writing appears
• escribir para la revista sounds more like writing for that publication

Both can exist, but para is very natural here.

Because Spanish usually needs an article when a noun is the subject of the sentence, unless there is some other determiner or the noun is used in a special context.

So:

• La periodista volverá... = The journalist will...

You cannot normally say just Periodista volverá... in standard Spanish.

Also, periodista is a noun ending in -ista, and nouns ending in -ista often have the same form for masculine and feminine. The article shows the gender:

• el periodista = the male journalist
• la periodista = the female journalist

Yes. Editora is the feminine form of editor.

• el editor = the male editor
• la editora = the female editor

So the sentence is clearly referring to a female editor and a female journalist.

This is a useful contrast with periodista, which does not change form:

• editor / editora
• periodista / periodista

The article tells you the gender in both cases.

Literally, el mes que viene means the month that comes.

In normal English, that is simply next month.

Yes, it is very similar to el próximo mes:

• el mes que viene = next month
• el próximo mes = next month

Both are common. El mes que viene often feels a little more conversational and very natural in everyday speech.

You can also build the same pattern with other time words:

• la semana que viene = next week
• el año que viene = next year

The meaning stays basically the same, and Spanish word order is fairly flexible.

The original order is natural:

• volverá a escribir para la revista el mes que viene

But you could also say:

• La editora dijo que el mes que viene la periodista volverá a escribir para la revista.
• La editora dijo que la periodista volverá a escribir el mes que viene para la revista.

The choice depends on what you want to emphasize.

• putting el mes que viene earlier can highlight the time
• keeping it at the end sounds very neutral and natural

So the given sentence is a standard, well-balanced word order, but it is not the only possible one.

Yes, Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already gives a lot of information.

For example, if the context were already clear, you might say:

• Dijo que volverá a escribir para la revista el mes que viene.

That could mean She said that she will write for the magazine again next month, depending on context.

In your sentence, though, the nouns la editora and la periodista are used because the speaker wants to identify both people clearly. That is especially helpful here, since there are two different women involved.