I've been the Editor in Chief for my community for 3 months, and as much as I absolutely love it, it hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. EICs do a lot more than just correct our creator's work for spelling and grammar mistakes. From MEs, to accidental postings, to endlessly tracking down your creators, it can be a roller coaster of a position. And I thought what better way to talk about typical EIC problems, than with one of my favorite TV shows, "Supernatural".
1. Waiting for people to submit their articles
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I check Muse relatively frequently, and nothing ups my anxiety like when it's a Saturday evening and one person has submitted an article.
2. Publishing something early because you didn't check the post date
Sometimes you edit for so long that you get hypnotized and forget to make sure you set the post date, instead of "publish right now". Cue a frantic email to your ME and trying to explain the mistake to your creator.
3. Doing all of your edits on Sunday
Anytime I actually get some early articles, I always tell myself I'll do some editing ahead of time. Yet every Sunday I find myself doing it all in one go. Put on your comfy pants, get a nice drink, boot up the laptop, and get to work.
4. Posting a really cute message in your GroupMe
I alway try to do something motivational for Monday, and a cute little "hooray it's the weekend" on Fridays. My favorite thing is finding cute pictures, quotes, or GIFs.
5. ...But no one responds to it
Sometimes posting in my team's GroupMe feels like shouting into a void. You try your best to make challenges or start a conversation but you really end up talking to yourself.
6. Suddenly remembering YOU have to write an article
You can get yourself into the EIC zone; responding to emails, onboarding, and reaching out to other people, that you forget that you are still a writer.
7. Waking up to 8,000 messages from you EIC GroupMe
My EIC squad are pretty fantastic, and we talk. A lot. Put your phone down for 20 minutes and suddenly you missed the debate of the century. Sometimes I'll tune in during the middle and hope that I can figure out what's going on.
8. Going on Muse and realizing half of your creators didn't submit anything
I don't know why I get shocked anymore. Every Sunday I have to send a text that's polite and not completely annoying. I do my best but sometimes I just want to send out a "HI ME AGAIN YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TEXTING ABOUT" message.
9. Looking at draft headlines early
This is probably because I'm nosy. A) I like seeing who's actually writing, and B) it's kind of fun to get a sneak peek to see what I'm going to be reading.
10. Constantly checking everyone's page views/shares
EICs want their creators to get a ton of shares so people can see how great they are. It also means constantly checking everyone's numbers on Muse like you're waiting for your professor to post your latest test grade.
11. Having a week where everyone posts on time
TBH this only happened once but it was like the best thing ever. It's great not having to text a million people and have to do more edits during the week.
12. Constantly telling people to read the freakin' handbook
The creator handbook is a magical thing that tells you how to format listicles (and everything else). Use it and save me an hour of my Sunday.
13. Reading articles about things you know NOTHING about
I have some pretty bomb ass creators that write about a lot of things. And whether it's GIFs from a TV show I've never seen (probs should watch "The Office" and "This Is Us"), or topics I'm unfamiliar with, I get a little crash course on new subjects every week.
14. When someone doesn't post for 2 weeks
HELLO? Are you alive, what happened? Busy with school? That's totally fine, do you need help with anything? I'm the classic "mom friend" so even if you're not going to write something "HI PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR LIFE IS."
15. Dealing with all of the higher up administrator problems
Odyssey made some big changes a month ago, and nothing has been the same ever since. Suddenly your content doesn't go up on time, your EIC friends are dropping like flies, and everything is an absolute mess.
16. When a creator says they're "too busy" and "forgot about the due date"
I get it, things happen. But I'm a full time student, have an internship, work two jobs, and STILL edit all of your articles. If you're too busy to write an article, then you best make time to text me to let me know.
17. "But you get paid for this"
18. When one of your creator's articles get a lot of shares
My creators are the best (not that I'm biased or anything) and I want them to get thousands of shares each week because they deserve it. Especially since we're such a small community, having an article blow up gets me super pumped.
19. Reading a REALLY good article your community put out
As I said, my creator's are the best and consistently put out really well-written articles. But every once in a while someone writes something that makes you sit back and go "wow".
20. Seeing your team grow as writers (and as people in general)
I feel like a proud mom sometimes. You get to see people develop their voice, find topics that they're passionate about, and generally develop as a human. Even though this job can be stressful and a pain in the ass, there's no way I'd ever stop doing it.
