What began as an exciting turn into the fifth season of the Courier-Herald’s community columnist program ended with… well, not a lot.

Last spring, when I made a concerted effort to get local residents to write one column a month for 12 months, on practically any topic they wanted, I had nearly two dozen people show interest. I was stoked — the program hasn’t had that sort of energy since I started it.

But then my follow-up email went mostly unanswered, and only three people, all previous writers, sent me applications.

So this month, we’re going to take a quick break from the program as I figure out how to move forward. I’ve sent out more emails to those who expressed previous interest, but this is also your opportunity to help keep the opinion pages of this newspaper local.

So here is a revised steps on how to apply as a community columnist and share your thoughts with the Plateau:

■ Come up with a theme. What are you going to write about? And more importantly, can you write 12 columns, each being between 800 and 1,000 words, on that topic, and will you be able to submit those columns by deadline every month?

■ Put together an introduction column, which will be published first. Who are you? What’s your history on the Plateau? What does your topic mean to you, and what sort of expertise do you bring to the table? What is your goal for writing a column, and what do you want your readers to get out of it?

■ Complete a finished draft of a column. No matter what your topic is, make sure you list your sources by including them in the body of the piece (not at the bottom, like a bibliography) where relevant. Applicants who do not use or cite sources will not be considered.

■ List out the other 10 potential columns you want to write about. This will be easier to do for some topics than others, but what I want most is to see that you have thought this through for an entire year.

■ Email all the above to me (rstill@courierherald.com, subject line: “Columnist Application”) by Aug. 23, 2023, and set up an appointment to meet in person. If you don’t receive a response, call me (360-802-8220) to ensure I received the email. Interviews will take place over August, with an announcement of our new columnists by the end of the month.

Let’s keep the Courier-Herald local. If you need additional information or have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.