This week marks the second anniversary of the Murfreesboro Post.
Friends often ask about the process of writing this column. Today I will answer some of their questions.
Have I always wanted to write?
No. I never thought about it before.
Actually, I always wanted to write a cookbook, but my sister just published one and I saw how hard it is. That mystique is gone.
I also wanted to write a book on REAL motherhood (those truths that no one tells you), but those days slipped by and I lost interest.
No, I never had any desire to write before Publisher Mike Pirtle came along though I did find myself writing down thoughts on pieces of paper and leaving them all over the house. I suppose I needed a platform on which to share them.
Is it hard to find something to write about every week?
Yes and no.
Mike told me that it’s easiest to write on a weekly basis because it becomes habitual. It seems when you are the busiest your mind works the best. Some weeks are harder than others.
How do I come up with topics?
Sometimes the topics and ideas flow like water. Other days, it’s like pulling teeth.
But I am blessed to have a very full life and many interesting experiences: being married to the mayor, having many friends, having raised three children (and now having a grandchild). I travel a lot and love to cook, sew, paint and watch sports. I also read three newspapers every day and that’s a lot of fuel for fodder.
It is a challenge for me is to think a week ahead (is it Mother’s Day, anniversary of September 11th, etc?) so sometimes those chances elude me.
Do I enjoy writing the column, and is it cathartic?
I hate to burst any bubbles, but I can’t say I truly love it. It’s a job.
When I was in high school (Knoxville Catholic), I was news editor of our newspaper. I don’t remember a lot anyway (I’ve accepted that it’s okay not to remember), but the only thing I remember about my stint there was writing an editorial at Thanksgiving.
My father Ed Canada (University of Richmond, class of 1938) was one of the smartest people I have ever known and was interested in everything – history, reading, current events, opera, sports, etc. He passed those interests along to his eight children. Having many interests also fuels writing.
I majored in French in college and English was my minor. I had to read a lot. I just started reading again within recent years after my children left home. I read at least a book a week now. And reading fuels writing.
Does my husband read what I write beforehand?
Hardly ever. He reads it on Sunday like everyone else.
On one or two occasions, if I said something I thought was disparaging about him, I checked with him to see if it sounded too harsh. Or if I wanted to check a fact, I might ask his opinion. In all cases it was left as written. Our writing styles are very different, and he’d rewrite the whole article if I listened to him.
Do I enjoy it?
Except for meeting deadlines weekly, I do. I am truly touched when people say they enjoy it, and particularly enjoy it when someone I have never met before tells me “you say exactly what I’ve been feeling, but I don’t know how to put it into words.”
THAT keeps me going.
That and when I hear: “Great job, Mom.”
Those are the moments that are the very sweetest music to my ears.
‘Til next week. |
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