• Keep your eyes and ears open for new story ideas.
  • Take note of what students are talking about around campus.  Look at posters hanging in and around the campus center and dorms. Check the Gustavus Calendar on a regular basis.  Keep up on local, national, and world news – if it affects Gustavus students, you might have a story!
• Assign stories as soon as possible.
  • If you already have an idea for an issue two weeks in advance, try to assign it early and allow the writer more time to craft a well-researched and well-written piece.
• Visualize your section in print BEFORE production night (and get creative!).
  • Have a general idea of your layout ahead of time and plan accordingly. Make sure you have the pictures and graphics you need, information for sidebars, etc.
• Think of headlines in advance.
  • Headlines can be the hardest to write so take time to brainstorm ideas.
• Plan for the worst-case scenario.
  • Writers regularly fall through and photographs don’t turn out.  Assume that half of your content will not be printed and have back-up material prepared. Always assign more articles than you have room to publish.
• Teach your reporters how to write.
  • Your job will be much easier in the long run if you take the extra time to give your writers both positive and negative feedback. Require first drafts and meet with your writers in person to go over corrections.
• Form a relationship with your writers.
  • You don’t have to be your writer’s best friend, but they should be able to recognize you on campus.  Flaky and unreliable writers are a serious problem at college newspapers, but writers are much more likely to hand in a story on time if they know who they will be letting down.

• Possible Timeline
  • Thursday: assign articles
  • Thursday-Sunday: writers have time to conduct interviews, research, and write articles
  • Sunday: first drafts are due
  • Sunday-Monday: edit first drafts, meet with writers to go over corrections
  • Monday night/Tuesday morning: final drafts due, make final edits, send to copy editors
  • Wednesday night: put paper together
  • Friday: Weekly is out!

(Although this timeline works well for some sections, others may require more writing/interviewing/researching time for writers.  For example, the News and Features editors may want to consider assigning articles on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.)