You’re Not Just a Writer, You’re the Editor-in-Chief.

Blogs are quite often a one-person show. The owners maintain the blog, write the content and promote the site themselves. They switch between different roles whenever necessary and that’s the natural result of a DIY system where one is personally in charge of everything. Sometimes, we tend to see themselves more as writers and less as executive editors.
We are more occupied with the process of developing an article idea, writing the blog post and then doing some minor editing to correct inaccurate usage of grammar, spelling or punctuation. To us, editorial work mainly involves prepping a post for eventual publication.
For bloggers, the editorial and writing process is intertwined: an efficient setup that works tirelessly to churn out content. We are editing and writing at the same time, seamlessly transitioning from one role to another in a instinctual instant. This usually happens when both the writer and editor are the same person.
Ive been writing on this blog for over a year. The writer in me has matured, while I feel that my editorial vision remains limited to the usual adminstrative concerns involved in day-to-day publishing. Somehow I think I’m not living up to my full potential. Maybe its because I’m not thinking like an editor-in-chief, like someone with absolute power over doshdosh.com.
I can do anything I want with this blog. It is all mine. But yet here I am, still thinking like a freelance writer who finishes an article and leaves it at that. Where is the competitive development strategy? Where is the expansion plan? Where is the readership analysis?
I’m thinking like a foot soldier and not a general. I throw out article after article against the wall, hoping that some of them will stick. But I’m not strategizing or thinking in the long-term beyond the immediate present, beyond the comments I have to reply to and the emails I have to write. There’s something more to that. Perhaps I’m missing the executive perspective.

Image Credit: crazy autofocus
The editor-in-chief is the person who ultimately decides the content direction of the publication in the long run. Like a curator of some sort, the editor-in-chief determines what topics to cover in the editorial calendar and decides how content is arranged together in a way which coheres with the standards of the publication as well as its overall strategy/purpose.
The editor-in-chief is responsible for keeping up to date with reader needs, industry news and competitor publications. He/she is a specialist in analyzing and framing news sources in order to emphasize specific unique angles. This is the person who looks at a piece of writing, thinks beyond copy, and asks: How can I best use this to improve the publication as a whole?
What are you publishing? Does it differentiate you? What image are you trying to cultivate? Who are you trying to reach? What works for others and how can you learn from them? How do you repackage old information in new ways? Who can you collaborate with?
I’ve written many times about having a strategy when it comes to creating content. Too many times. Now I just need to remember that I’m not just a writer but an executive editor. Someone who’s actually in charge. Sometimes, it’s so easy to forget .