Week 4

September 12 - September 18, 2010

Monday 3:15 - 6:00
Tuesday 11:30 - 5:30
Wednesday 3:30 - 6:30
Thursday 11:30 - 6:45

Total hours: 19

We're on deadline!

I'm not sure what that means exactly, but everybody in the office has said it at least once this week.

Okay, I guess I have some sense of what that means. The editorial staff has started layout for the Nov/Dec issue, and the timelines to have everything completed are getting tighter. As the copy editor told me, "we need everything yesterday."

There were some things I liked about being "on deadline." First, the office was quieter, because the editorial staff was working off site. And second, with the frenetic pace, the week just flew by.

People were a little testier than usual in conversation, but that's to be expected when the pressure is on.

I will be glad when we are "off deadline." Mostly, because I have questions for my boss about how that whole process works. I wanted to ask a million this week, but something tells me now is not the time.

Oh, and something else really cool happened. The copy editor was running short on time and asked for ideas on a story headline and subhead. I learned I'm not very good at subheads yet. This was good to know, because I can start working on this. But, the cool thing was, she used the headline I suggested. It was so fun!