Writing Memoir on Deadline? Toss Your Usual Datebook

YOUR NEWS PEG is where you hang your hat, and when it comes to writing short memoir, answering the reader’s subconscious question of why the hat is hung where and when it is, is essential to your success. But that news peg is much more than that, and learning its power is the key to publishing your pieces.

The term “news peg” was once synonymous with the angle, short for the term, news angle, or aspect of a story a journalist might choose to highlight and develop. These days, “news peg,” has been broadened to be associated with the current event that makes a feature article or analysis piece timely.

You must understand the news peg, and choose yours wisely. In doing so, you satisfy that great reader question: Why am I reading this now? Why am I listening to this today on the radio, a reader might ask herself, if only subconsciously, and if the answer is not immediately apparent, that listener may just turn you off. But how much are you supposed to remind your reader of that news peg? It depends.

Think in Propinquities

I’m not much of a skiing-in-winter writer, or turkey-and-gravy piece for Thanksgiving, preferring to look at life out of the corner of my eye, most times through just the hint of a wink.

So, when Thanksgiving came around, I wrote and read an essay on NPR that featured a time when I brought home a cabdriver for dinner. It’s about the plenty of the season, absolutely, thereby fulfilling my obligation to the news peg, but the illustration is me, my cabdriver, and a fateful hole in his pants. I call this way of viewing the world, thinking in propinquities, and for more on that, as well as for that essay featuring the cabdriver, see here.

Check Your Dates

This world of new media seems to whip right by us, doesn’t it? And maybe you feel that you can never write well in advance of a news peg. Let’s see of we can fix that.

Coming up this week are several fine new pegs for you to use for blog posts.

For instance:

• January ends on Tuesday, the 31^st, marking the halfway point through winter
• February begins on Wednesday
• Thursday is Groundhog Day

Want to write further out, say, for the radio or your local newspaper?

How about these dates coming up:

• March 12, the 100^th birthday of the Girl Scouts
• March 20, the Vernal Equinox
• March 27, Cherry Blossom Festivals begin

Do you know what to write for any of these dates? Go have a look at my interactive calendar, which not only gives you full paragraphs on each of these dates, but also links to posts that teach you how to write.

Looking months in advance? No problem. There are already calendar listings up for July, including the dates that armadillos are mating, a shout out to Jell-O, and a celebration of daylillies. I didn’t say my calendar was ordinary, did I? It’s designed to get you thinking in those propinquities, remember? So try it.

See a typo, a grammar flub, my (ever-present) overuse of commas? Point it out, and I’ll throw you in the pool for a monthly free book giveaway. Which book? One of mine – your choice – all of which were professionally copy edited, thank goodness.