Newest fun fact for you: I’m an editor in my school’s literary magazine. (It’s cooler than the paper and the yearbook, is entirely student made (except for publishing), we fund it ourselves with ads and fundraising, and it contains ONLY student writing and art.)
Well folks, it was crunch time at the literary magazine (I’m gonna call it the lit mag for short) this week. Our printers (the people who print our magazine into the glossy, beautiful piece of literary sexiness that it is) came Tuesday, we got our deadline extended to Thursday (when all the computers were down for 2 hours), and on Friday we gave them the ‘book’ (the layouts, cover, everything, all stapled onto big pieces of construction paper and bound with a rubber band) we had and one of the editors in chief took another copy home for extra edits. Before you hear the real story, a tale of rushing, stress, ink, and adventure, we must lay down some rules.
1. During crunch time, you do not slack off. Work or get away from the computers.
2. If you have nothing to do, get an assignment. Ask the editors, EICs (eds-in-chief, our lit mag has 3 of ’em) or the managing teacher. If they give you nothing, refer to rule 1.
3. The editors (esp EICs) WILL micromanage. They ARE prefectionists and they’re in charge for a reason. If they see something on your screen, lean back and let them do what they need to. Ask what they need (maybe you can do it) but if they say no, drop it. (This can be a hard one for me.)
4. Everyone is stressed, short, and snappish right now. If they snap, it is not personal. Cut ’em some slack. (Also can be a toughie.)
5. There is a time for goofing off. Now is not it. If you do it now, prepare to be killed painfully by EICs.
6. When asked to do something, do it. If you are incapable of doing this, say it. Better ‘I dunno how to switch the photographs to tiff format’ then sitting around wasting time.
7. Odd as it sounds, have fun. It may be crunch time, but it’s also an adrenaline rush.
Allright, on to the lit mag adventure. The cast: (names will remain the same so if you’re one of these people don’t take it personally. I’m trying to be accurate.)
Deziree (Deci)–EIC. Perfectionist & often micromanager. Yes, she’s a tad grouchy now, but she’s also getting it done. She puts in all the hours, has the experience, and is one of the reasons we have less mistakes than last year. She is great with editing and precision in layouts. One of the ‘Boss Lady’ EICs.
Alexandra–EIC. Micromanager and fix-er. Up there with Deci in the InDesign expertise, just without the extra dose of perfectionist. One of the ‘Boss Lady’ EICs. She’s quick and to-the-point. (No, it’s not personal.) Yes, that needs to be fixed. Someone needs to work on this. You? Do it. Daughter of our fearless leader (who I’ll call MT for managing teacher. No last names.)
Sarah–EIC. Businesslike but more gentle than the other two EICs. Yeah, she’s in change, but doesn’t have quite the ‘Boss Lady’ vibe that Alexandra and Deci have. Red pen is her favorite weapon and I addressed her as a ‘grammar Nazi’ in junior year. Still knows a lot, but is more of a people-person than a computer person.
Yours Truly–Writing Editor. This is a title I was only recently informed of. I essentially am told what to do and I do it. If I have questions, I ask. If there’s something wrong, I’ll call the MT or an EIC.
Justin–I’m unsure of his title. I don’t think he’s an editor, but he’s great at making layouts.
(The EICs, the MT, and I are really the main characters of this story, but whatever.) (This story is slurred between days because with lack of sleep, I blur some events together.)
It started sometime last week that we really began the hardcore assembly of the litmag. Before now we chose which layouts went in (by we I mean the MT and EICs) and were working on order, but now was the time for hardcore editing, the fix-its of art credit and placement, for the assembly of the staff page, the theme explanation, the table of contents.
Monday-Wednesday
Sometime in here I am either named or self-appointed person who is in charge of art credit. For every piece we have in the litmag, I need the artist (how they want to be known), their medium, and a title. This sounds easy, but in a school with over 2000 kids, you need to locate art teachers, have them recognize artists so we can locate and talk to them, and then there are the mix-ups, the lost information, the kids who you can’t get ahold of. So my main missions are dashing to art rooms to talk to students (and as desperation grows, locating them in whatever class they are in), and updating the table of contents. This involves a lot of errend running, a lot of typing, and soon, a memory for which pieces are what (or at least remembering where I put my notes.) I am not alone of course. I have Cristal and Jenni to help me along (two students in one of my writing classes) and Justin began the whole project, so I have him to thank for the large amount of work already done.
As things get more desperate, we make a list of kids whose credit we are missing. One girl I manage to track to either a health or PE class. So with two minutes on the clock, I dash from a certain teacher’s art room across the school to PE. The artist I am seeking is not there. I hurry up to the health rooms and as I am about to reach the top step, the bell rings. Students slowly trickle into the hall, and then it is a flood of bodies. I call the artist’s name, waving the photo of her artwork, hoping someone will recongize it as her own. I ask passerbyes if they know Artist’s Name Here. I get no ‘yes’es.
I somehow acquire the duty of putting page numbers on the layouts. (There are 64 numbered pages.) All page numbers must be aligned a quarter inch from the bottom and a quarter inch from the edge. (It takes me several tries before it is established by Alexandra exactly the alignment I need. It is time-consumning, but I enjoy it, though my eyes do get very tired.)
We make a list of the students we are missing and call them at home. I leave polite but urgent phone messages. Then comes coffeehouse, the last of the year. Poets and writers read their work, musicians play, coffee, tea, and snacks are sold for relatively cheap prices. I am waiting on Alexandra to finish something. I do my spanish homework (well, I eventually get it done.) I do a lot of talking and spacing out, and once my two cups of tea with several shovels of sugar kick in, some dancing and laughing.
Deziree does homework, chats with alumni, sips tea, and looks the least stressed I have seen her during crunch time so far. I am half-asleep until the sugar kicks in, then begin to enjoy myself. Sarah arrives late and chats. We (alumni included) chat about college, croquet, and spring break plans. Alexandra, I believe, spent her time working on layouts in the classroom.
Thursday morning–disaster strikes. Our school’s network is down for two hours. Our extended dealine makes our litmag due today. We manage to get it extended to Friday. (Our printers are actual people and are wonderful with us. If you are reading this, men in the unintentionally coordinating blue outfits, we thank you.)
Friday
Deziree has a checklist-chart. Every layout must pass each category of her chart to be considered ready. About 5 of the 32 layouts do. So we work. I manage to get out of some class to work the litmag. I also work it during my lunchtime. After school, I come back to find that we have sent it to the printers. Alexandra and Deci are still there though, typing away on their computers, fixing little things. Our MT is editing pieces that have errors or language/references that we can’t use. I stay after school to print up a new ‘book’ for Deci to take home and edit. We are almost done, so close I can taste it.
Friday Night
Deci is not happy. Her edits revealed many issues, but if not for this anger, the issues would never have been spotted. Perfectionist, yes. Would we do half as well without her? No.
Our literary magazine will actually begin the complex process of printing (we’ll get to see a preview first of course) on Monday sometime I believe. Which means Monday morning, I may be with the EICs and MT making last-minute adjustments, sending our now-perfect copies to the printers.
If you are the praying type, say a prayer that we pull this off. We always have so far, but prayers never hurt. If you aren’t the praying type, do it anyway.
All EICs and editors, DO NOT spell-grammar check this. It’s 12:30 AM and this is not the time to quibble.
The (Mis) Adventures of Life as We Know It 