GO ON, TRY my interactive calendar of emotional high holy days, regular-version high holy days and more. It’s probably my number one memoir writing tip, since writing on deadline, or to a deadline, is one of the single best ways to learn how to write memoir.
How to Use the Memoir Project Calendar
Hover your cursor over a cinnamon-colored date to see what pops up. Use it to start personal essays, radio pieces and op-eds to submit on deadline. How? Look three months out for radio ideas; six to twelve for magazine pieces. Pluck something from the calendar and start now to submit the very best work you can produce.
Here is how to stop using writing prompts and writing exercises, those time-wasting devices leave you merely practicing writing. You want to write with intent, and you want to succeed. So start today and do so.
Write with intent: Pick it, write it, submit it. Read and react. You’re a writer. That’s what writers do. So write on.
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1January, 1 2025Happy New YearJanuary’s name derives from the two-faced God Janus, who became the god of the beginnings. All entrances were under his protection. Did you huddle in a doorway last night, letting the new year in? Taken from the Scottish tradition of “Hogmanay,” this tradition can include “first footing,” in which the first person through the door in a New Year is thought to affect the fortunes of everyone who lives there. Strangers bring good luck. Redheads, bad. A great topic for an essay, just as soon as I figure out what it is about. | 2January, 2 2025Winter Home of Monarch Butterfly DiscoveredOn this day in 1975 was the discovery of the winter home of the Monarch Butterfly. The monarch migration is one of the world’s greatest natural wonders when each year, hundreds of millions of monarchs migrate between the United States and Canada to areas in Mexico and California. I find this inspiring, and might add a post about it to my Creative Inspiration blog category. | 3 | 4January, 4 2025Garden Catalogs Arriving in the MailDo you garden? Or are you what we call an armchair gardener? Either way, you’ve surely noticed that your garden catalogs have begun arriving in the mail. And right on time, aren’t they? Now we can settle in for winter. The holidays are past, and the garden is not yet begun in most areas of the Northern Hemisphere, making it the perfect time to dream a little dream of zinnias or asters, pumpkins, peas or nasturtiums. For me, gardening is about inheritances. And you? | 5January, 5 2025Twelfth NightThis is Twelfth Night. Shakespeare wrote about it. You have a funny Shakespeare story, but every time you try to write it, you get stuck. How to get unstuck? Try this. Stuck? First Divorce Granted in AmericaAccording to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, today in 1643, the first divorce in the US was granted. Got a divorce story? Here’s your news peg. Need examples of essays written on deadline? See my blog category NPR essays, for pieces I’ve aired on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. I’ll be adding to this over time. |
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| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9January, 9 2025Connecticut Becomes the Fifth StateOn this day in 1788, Connecticut became the 5th state to ratify the US Constitution. Do you live in Connecticut? Is something worth an op-ed going on in your state? Use the anniversary as your news peg, and have at it. | 10 | 11 | 12January, 12 2025The Man with the Famous Signature is BornOn this day in 1737, Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock was born. Got a penmanship or signature story? Here’s your news peg. How to make that memoir interesting to others? Maybe I can help. Read this. |
13January, 13 2025Plough MondayPlough Monday is an ancient rite still celebrated in the UK on the first Monday after Epiphany, noting the medieval date when ploughboys returned to work, and the new plowing season began. Later on, ploughs instead paraded through the streets in an effort to extort money from the wealthy landowners. Becoming a ritual, this provided cash at a difficult time of year. Of course, feasts soon followed. I find this inspiring, and might write something I’d then post in my Creative Inspiration blog category. | 14 | 15January, 15 2025British Museum OpensOn this day in 1759 one of the great wonders of the world opened — the British Museum. The will of physician, naturalist and collector, Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), bequeathed to King George II his collection of more than 71,000 objects, library and herbarium to be preserved intact for the nation. I find this inspiring, and might write a blog post on a memorable visit to that museum and add it to my Creative Inspiration blog category. | 16January, 16 2025Dian Fossey, a Woman to AdmireIt’s the birthday in 1932 of Dian Fossey, one of the 20th century’s greatest naturalists, who devoted her life to protecting and studying the mountain gorillas of Africa. Making her first trip to Africa in the 1960s, her work extended in the 1980s. Need some tips on what to do on the anniversary of someone you admire? See my blog category Creative Inspiration. | 17 | 18 | 19 |
20January, 20 2025Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday ObservedCoretta Scott King said this of this day: “Whether you are African-American, Hispanic or Native American, whether you are Caucasian or Asian-American, you are part of the great dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for America. This is not a black holiday; it is a peoples’ holiday. And it is the young people of all races and religions who hold the keys to the fulfillment of his dream.” | 21January, 21 2025“Over the Rainbow” CopyrightedOn this day in 1939 the song “Over the Rainbow,” was copyrighted by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. A quick check of the My Memoir Writing category of my blog will provide you with both blog posts and radio essays written on deadline. | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25January, 25 2025Robert Burns BornOn this day in 1759 was the birth of poet Robert Burns, who reminded us about those best laid schemes of mice and men go astray. He also wrote My Love is Like a Red Red Rose. Few poems are more famous than that. Need some how-to instruction on what to do with such anniversaries? See the How-T0 category of my blog. | 26January, 26 2025Raccoons Mating NowAccording to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, raccoons are mating now. Their mating season runs January through March, and after a little more than two months females gives birth to a litter of between four to six young. What to do with this fact? Have you seen the How-To category of my blog? |
27January, 27 2025The Last TelegramOn this day in 2006, Western Union sent its last telegram. If you are of a certain age, you have a telegram story. But maybe you need to cut it down to fit a certain venue — a radio essay can be only 615 words, for instance. How to do that? See here. | 28 | 29January, 29 2025Lunar New YearIt’s the new year on the Chinese calendar. It will include excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity. Have you ever been to a Chinese New Year celebration? It might be the setting for a fine essay. But do remember to first figure out what the essay is about. Charles Darwin Takes a WifeOn this day in 1839 Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood. Before he proposed, Darwin made a list of the pros and cons of marriage, weighing such things as giving up the “conversation of clever men at clubs,” and “less money for books” against the obvious connubial benefits. See my blog category, My Memoir Writing, for both blog posts and radio essays written on deadline. | 30 | 31January, 31 2025January’s EndJanuary’s end means that we are halfway through winter. A quick check of the My Memoir Writing category of my blog will provide you with both blog posts and radio essays written on deadline. |
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