The Creative Process of a Paw Print Editor
By: Ardeliah Longbottom

It is an extremely stressful, life shortening career to be an editor.

First, the previous edition is released. That knot in the pit of your stomach that told you the paper was never going to get out on time finally releases and you can start to relax a little. Unfortunately, this also releases all of your other muscles and a quick visit to the bathroom is in order. You come out shortly there after to find your nice stress free day was not to be as all of your writers are now having a massive butterbeer party in the office and there are crisps and crumbs flying everywhere.

Deciding you aren't going to stay there a moment longer you head home to relax with your disco ball and fire whiskey.

A few days later when you have woken up again, you head back to your office. The remains of the party can still be seen but this is a paper and the news will wait for no one. You corral Rowan who always has way too much energy and set her to cleaning up the remains of the party while you head to your office and start posting notes to your staff to remind them that fun time is over now and that there is another paper that must go out. You then spend the next few hours trying to find all your notes that mysteriously got knocked over during the party even though your office is completely off limits, so you can archive the paper you just released.

It is now mid way to the next edition. One or two of the staff has passed in what they call articles and you are trying to find time in your busy schedule to proof read them all and check for errors. No one is listening to your threats as you verbally chastise them all for being so close to deadline last time that you almost didn't have time to get the proof reading done. The knot in the pit of your stomach is small but you can feel the indigestion coming on so you take some of your dragon fire indigestion tablets hoping to fight it off before you become ill. The side effects include smoking and flames coming from your ears but you figure that if it can help to put the fear of you into them then maybe they will write faster. Now there is only a week left to go. The enormity of what must be done is once again looming over your head and you feel like the entire building is sitting on your shoulders and the staff that is supposed to do their work and help get it done are not smarter than a 4th grader or they would have had it done by now. You contemplate contacting some dark wizards to curse them all with writing illnesses just so you can have something done. The swamp behind your house that bugs you at any other time now feels like a good place to hide the bodies as your frantic mind tries to work out a way you can put out an entire paper by yourself.

The day arrives. The paper is set to be released in a few hours. All the writers and graphics people are sitting around chatting calmly with each other as you frantically circle your office like a plane low on fuel. Jamming articles here and there trying to make things fit as all the last minute bits of work come flying your way. Proof reading and pasting things in place as quickly as you can with all of your energy focused on not going postal and eliminating all of your staff in one fell swoop with your wand using the disintegration spell you keep taped to the underside of your desk.

Finally you have everything in place that needs to be there. You set the paper up and let it loose into the wilds hoping that people will actually read it. You step out into the bull pen filled with your staff and warn them that any attempts to party in the office again will be met with serious recriminations and try to huddle behind your desk and relax while popping indigestion tablets like mad hoping and praying that you didn't forget anything. That there are no ads that were supposed to be in there that didn't make it. Until you finally collapse from exhaustion behind your desk and fall asleep. Blissfully unaware of the chaos starting in the outer office as the staff makes for the monthly after party.

As you sleep you dream of the perfect world where the paper is put to bed a week in advance all ready to go and proof read. But then you just know that the makers of Dragon Fire indigestion tablets would go out of business if they didn't have you as a loyal customer.