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.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Sep | Nov » | |||||
1October, 1 2024The First Day of the MonthOctober was the 8th month in the ancient Roman calendar. When the calendar was revised it retained its name in spite of several efforts to change it. There was a month named for Julius Caesar and one for Augustus, and soon the eighth month went on a veritable bender of renaming, being called Germanicus, for a distinguished general; Antoninus, in honor of an emperor; Faustinus, in honor of Faustina, wife of Antoninus; and then Hercules, in honor of the emperor Commodus, who called himself the Roman Hercules and insisted he be worshipped as a god. Oh, those Romans. Finally, good sense prevailed, and we went back to the original name — or was that sensible, since this was the name for the 8th month of the year? Oh my. You be the judge. What’s in Your Harvest Basket?It’s harvest season, a great time to take stock. Here’s what happened when I contemplated this time of year. First Day of the MonthOctober was the 8th month in the ancient Roman calendar. When the calendar was revised it retained its name in spite of several efforts to change it. There was a month named for Julius Caesar and one for Augustus, and soon the eighth month went on a veritable bender of renaming, being called Germanicus, for a distinguished general; Antoninus, in honor of an emperor; Faustinus, in honor of Faustina, wife of Antoninus; and then Hercules, in honor of the emperor Commodus, who called himself the Roman Hercules and insisted he be worshipped as a god. Oh, those Romans. Finally, good sense prevailed, and we went back to the original name — or was that sensible, since this was the name for the 8th month of the year? Oh my. You be the judge. | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14October, 14 2024Indigenous Peoples’ DayToday is Indigenous Peoples’ Day which, as stated by the White House in 2021, celebrates the fact that “Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures — safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations.” | 15 | 16October, 16 2024Do Tell, Wooly Bear. Do Tell Me About WinterI’m looking over a brown-in-the-middle and black-at-both-ends caterpillar, though he’s only one of 8 species of caterpillar that qualify as wooly bears, that caterpillar stage of the tiger moth. The best known is the banded wooly bear who grows up to be the Isabella tiger moth. I use the wooly bear to predict how the winter will shape up, weather-wise, the folklore being that the wider the middle stripe, the more harsh the winter. Some people dispute this. Ha. | 17October, 17 2024Full Hunter’s MoonToday is the full moon. October’s full moon is known as the Full Hunter’s Moon. | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31October, 31 2024All Hallow’s EveBoo! How’s that costume coming? Have you got an essay about dressing up as a kid, mistaken identity, or anything else related to pretending to be someone you’re not? Today’s the day for that to be read by others. |
|||
