In September of 2010, the Portage Daily Graphic/Central Plains Herald Leader advertised for freelance writers. What I really wanted was a regular column. I even had a name: “Out of My Mind.”
In one of my boldest acts of reckless abandon, I called and requested an appointment with then-editor, Elisha Dacey. Seated in her office and trying not to reveal my nerves, I told her I wanted to write a weekly “slice of life” column. Some humour, some faith. Hopefully a little of both sprinkled into each. I gave her three samples.
She hired me.
I’ve lost track of how many editors have come and gone in these ten years, but readers have remained loyal. One of the funniest stories occurred about a year into my column-writing, when I went to vote on Election day. I gave the poll clerk my name.
“Are you the Terrie Todd who writes for the Graphic?” She peered at me over her glasses.
“Yes.”
She frowned a bit. “Huh. I thought you’d be shorter.”
I assured her I would try to sound taller from then on.
Over the years, several (well, okay, maybe two) readers have asked when I was going to put my columns into a book. I figured a ten-year anniversary would be a good time. Trouble is, ten years’ worth of columns would be as thick as a phone book (for those of you old enough to remember phone books.)
Good old Microsoft to the rescue. I created a table in MS Word and listed every column by title, the date it ran, and its theme. Then I gave each a score from zero to five. If a column promoted a local event long past, it received an automatic zero. My personal favourites, and the ones that generated emails or won awards, scored fives.
When all 460 columns were entered, I instructed my computer to pull all the fives to the top and voila! 145 columns, the perfect length for a book. My first column made the cut, as did my farewell column when “Out of My Mind” got cancelled in 2016…as well as the return column when I was invited back fourteen months later. (If you’ve already calculated that ten years of weekly columns would total 520, not 460, the cancellation explains that.)
Once I eliminated the also-rans scoring less than five, I told my computer to sort the winning columns by theme. Then it was a matter of copying and pasting each column into its category and creating a table of contents. Now, readers can easily find stories under a given topic or season.
This book signing will look different. |
I deeply appreciate your kindness and tolerance. A column should offer value to readers and I’ve often fallen short. But if I’ve managed to make you smile or even laugh out loud, if you’ve discovered a tear on your cheek or have thought a new thought, I’m happy.
You’re teaching me the discipline of deadlines, the wonder of word counts, and the extraordinary grace and humour of hometown folk.
Happy Anniversary to us!
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