Using the Calendar to Find Writing Ideas, Four Seasons of Writing Success, Part 2

by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

Searching for a new idea for an online article or blog post? Look no further than the calendar hanging on the wall, and you’ll find an endless supply of ideas just waiting to splash autumn colors on a blank page! As mentioned back in July with part 1 of Four Seasons of Writing Success, holiday and seasonal writing never runs out of style. Online magazine editors, newspaper editors, bloggers, and websites need fresh content consistently, and celebratory posts can engage and inspire readers with fun and festivity. 

Autumn Ideas for Writers

A quick peek this month suggests lots of fun events. For example, October is Apple Month. Consider writing a newspaper article about the Top Five Places to Go Apple Picking in you r neck of the woods? Consider submitting a favorite apple pie recipe to an online site or write a blog about apple picking as a youngster. 

October is also Cookie Month. Perfect that chocolate chip cookie recipe or another favorite and prepare a query letter for Taste of Home magazine or Country Woman magazine that describes how your recipe is different from any you’ve ever had and share your secret ingredient. Check online for submission guidelines and send off the query and recipe to the two magazines, suggesting the use of the article for next year’s fall issue during Cookie Month. 

Educate your community with tips for Fire Prevention Month with a newspaper article. Call a local station and arrange an interview with a fire fighter. Ask questions about fire safety and compose an article that encourages families to have an emergency plan in case of fire and lists tips to prevent a fire from ever happening in the home. 

In honor of National Cookbook Month, decide this month to collect favorite recipes from extended family members. Compile the recipes and self-publish a cookbook to share with family members as a Christmas surprise or as a gift next October for a Cookbook Month celebration. 

For National Field Trip Month, write an article on local field trip opportunities and query homeschooling groups in your area. Most homeschooling organizations send out newsletters and would welcome an article on local field trips. 

Check in with your newspaper editor and offer to write an article for National Food Bank Week. Plan to include a brief historical account of the local food bank and give statistics on how many families the food bank helps each month or year. Hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to interview someone who’s benefited from the food bank and include anonymous quotes in the article. Encourage readers to donate to the food bank and include details on location ad hours for drop-offs. 

Find something fun to write about National Egg Day, Old Farmer’s Day, I Love Yarn Day,, or National Grouch Day. Don’t forget Dictionary Day, Take Your Parents to Lunch Day, or International Bandana Day. 

Check out these websites to find other seasonal ideas and holidays: 

• Holidays-and-Observances.com

• Daysoftheyear.com

• HolidayInsights.com

When you’ve exhausted the silly holiday list, think about seasonal stories, like a newspaper article that boasts the Top 10 Photo Ops for Local Fall Foliage or shares a list of churches in the area that are hosting a fall festival. 

Offer to write a guest post on a homeschooling website about Fun Fall Crafts or Five Favorite Autumn Chapter Books. Share a guest post on a friend’s website with the title Lo-Cost Autumn Activities for the Family. 

Write devotions about watching squirrels bury nuts for the winter, wandering through a corn maze, or making homemade applesauce. Submit a story to an anthology callout about hunkering down during a seasonal hurricane, falling in love at a football game, or forgetting to change the clock and showing up at church at the wrong hour. 

Let’s face it … autumn writing topics are as endless as the leaves that change colors and fall from the trees. Get busy writing from the calendar this season and celebrate the spectacular beauty of autumn’s colors. Enjoy everything about the season and let it spill over onto the pages of your writing. And in the words of Winnie the Pooh, relish this “time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all leaping into leaves.” 

What about you? What autumn-fun articles have you written thus far? What ideas do you have for other summer stories or devotions or blogposts? 

TWEETABLE

Using the Calendar to Find Writing Ideas, Four Seasons of Writing Success, Part 2, tips from @JLavenderWrites on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Don't Miss the Rest of the Posts in This Series!

SUMMER: Part One: Four Seasons of Writing Success

AUTUMN: Part Two: Four Seasons of Writing Success

Julie Lavender loves silly holidays and any excuse to celebrate. She especially loves celebrating with fellow authors when new books and projects launch. She’s the author of Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime (Zeitgeist/Penguin Random House) and 365 Ways to Love Your Child: Turning Little Moments into Lasting Memories (Revell). She’s also a contributor to The Seven, a podcast sharing life events with six other writer friends to ignite and encourage listeners on their faith journey.