My deadline for this editorial is 4 PM on Tuesday afternoon. That’s when it has to be sent off to the translator. So, ideally, I’ll have come up with a topic by late Monday afternoon. I usually brainstorm with my colleague WD, sleep on it, and then leisurely work out a writing plan in my head during my fifty-minute bike ride to work the next morning.
Ideal scenario
That’s the ideal scenario, though. If I haven’t settled on a topic yet, my morning commute is much less relaxed. I’ll rack my brain for inspiration: what has happened at Observant in the past few days that might interest a wider audience? Any dilemmas, intriguing questions or funny incidents? Something will eventually come to mind. It has to – not writing is not an option.
Whenever I mention a colleague’s initials here, I run my editorial by them to see if they’re OK with it. I’ve never received a “no” in response to this question. Of course, not everything is suitable to write about; some things are private, and other things happen too often to be interesting.
Happy news
First, some happy news. This week, our colleague CF attended our editorial meeting for the first time since the summer break. She’s been reading Observant from an outsider’s perspective, resulting in valuable feedback. She has been enjoying the series where students talk about their future plans. But there’s room for improvement, too. In the most recent print version of Observant, for example, political parties’ views on the increased use of English and number of international students were relegated to the very last page. She pointed out that not all readers make it there – even she sometimes doesn’t read beyond the two-pager on pages 6–7.
More happy news: last Monday, our editor MT was one of 73 employees being spotlighted for their 25th work anniversary at UM. We’d already celebrated the occasion as a team before the summer, so he decided to forgo the event.
Minor inconveniences
Finally, in the category of minor inconveniences, our offices and corridor haven’t been cleaned for weeks. The floor is covered in so many crumbs that it looks like a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet for mice, as attested by a poor soul (I won’t name names) who walked around in socks for a moment. Fortunately for us, we haven’t had any mouse sightings yet, and Facility Services is on the case. Crisis averted, hopefully.