As assistant features editor, I do a lot of, well, assisting.
Each weekend, I meet with the other two features editors, and we come up with story ideas. Our meetings usually consist of laughing, joking and telling stories, but we eventually take the time to discuss ideas for stories and who will be writing them.
It can be hard to find good story ideas every week with St. Bonaventure being so small, but there’s a lot of room for creativity. A story doesn’t have to just be a piece about an on-campus event or a movie review. I’ve found that it’s even more fun to do pieces such as how the cold weather has impacted students’ daily lives or a Valentine’s Day story on a couple—this way, I learn more about different people and their personal preferences.
Tuesdays are the most stressful day of the week for me. The stories are due at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and I receive them before the other two editors, which means it’s on me to start the editing process. Truth be told, I am a huge procrastinator, so if I have a story before the deadline, it usually sits in my inbox until Tuesday night, anyway (sorry everyone!)
Editing stories is actually a great time. It’s always interesting to look at different writer’s styles. Leaving fun comments on the story is a plus too.
Wednesday nights in the newsroom can either be a blast or a nightmare. Each week, I sit down with some of the writers and help them edit their stories. When the pages are ready to be printed, I tape them together, so they are able to be edited.
The most time-consuming part of my night is coming up with headlines. It seems like a simple task: come up with a phrase that explains what the story is about. Oh, but it’s so much harder. Sometimes I come up with a great headline, only to find out that it’s much too long or short for its designated spot. Thinking of headlines requires a lot of creativity and patience. I love it, but I hate it even more.
Although I stress about The BV like it’s another class, I couldn’t imagine not doing it every week. I love writing; I love editing; I love my wonderful features team; most importantly, I love seeing the final product on the newsstand Friday morning and knowing that it wouldn’t be the same paper without my hard work.
Koblee14@bonaventure.edu
