The Surprising Writing and Earth Day Connection

So I was checking out my calendar, thinking about Earth Day, when I started tossing ideas around for this post. And I know what you’re thinking: she’s going to talk about recycling.

Nope! (Though recycling is super important and I sure hope that you do your best to recycle!) I went with the calendar.

The calendar, you ask? What’s the calendar got to do with writing? So glad you asked!

When it comes to writing, whether it’s articles or books, there are certain dates on the calendar when editors and/or publishers are looking for very specific topics. Nearly every month has its special holiday and if you are the creative writer who can put a unique spin on those tired topics around Christmas, Halloween, or 4th of July, you will make a sale, I guarantee it. But you have to be on top of the editorial calendar or you’ll miss your window of opportunity.

The editorial calendar is the golden ticket for the freelancer; with it, you have all the information and dates you need to submit. Sometimes, it’s easy to find the submission guidelines and calendar. Here at WOW, for example, you can find all kinds of info on the Contact Us page. Make every effort to find the submission information and/or calendar before you submit because the freelancer who sends out stuff willy-nilly is the freelancer who doesn’t get the job.

An editorial calendar may require a seasonal submission months (and months) ahead of publication. So what’s the writer to do when that great Labor Day query isn’t accepted and Labor Day is right around the corner?

You have two choices when your seasonal queries go bust: you can wait a whole year or you can revise the article into an evergreen piece. (An evergreen topic is one that will fit either year-round or year after year.)

Granted, not every topic can be converted into something broader and evergreen. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer might work in an article about reindeer but you’ll still probably be limited to a winter theme. However, if you’ve come up with a few ideas for a craft article on how to recycle odds and ends into Christmas ornaments, then maybe that article becomes ornaments for a tree in your yard when you celebrate Earth Day. Wheee!

And one more thing about the calendar and writing: don’t overlook the lesser known celebrations when you’re looking for topics. Editors get swamped with queries about Earth Day on April 22nd, but did you know that April 6th was National Tartan Day? (Which makes me wonder if there’s a National Plaid Day…) Or that tomorrow is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day? Here’s a great site to give you all kinds of holidays and observances in the United States which will also give you information to get started on your research. And P.S. Here’s a fun site with world-wide calendars.

So I think I’ve made my Earth Day point about the simple yet amazing calendar. (But it’d also be swell if you recycle!)

~Cathy C. Hall (Writer and Recycler)


Photo by Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels

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5 comments calendar, Cathy C. Hall, celebrations and holidays, Earth Day, editorial calendar, evergreen articles, recycling

Friday Speak Out!: Always Recycle, Guest Post by Judith Newton

The best piece of writing advice I ever got came from Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It had to do with accepting the idea of “shitty first drafts.” The second best piece of advice came from a professor whose teaching assistant I had been in English graduate school in the 1960s. He had struck me, when we first met, as incredibly brash, an effect that he was deliberately seeking to achieve. He’d barge into the classroom, send the blinds crashing up or down, and lie on the desk with a cigar between his teeth. “I’m Smith,” he’d say to a wide-eyed class. He went on to become a rock star of literary criticism, publishing countless books, writing regularly for the New York Times, becoming an internationally famous intellectual. He even appeared as a character in a well known novel.

His advice? “Always recycle.”

“First,” he said, “I write a talk. Then I give it in several times. I turn the talk into an essay and publish it. Maybe it becomes part of an anthology edited by someone else. Then I use it as a chapter of a book or include it in a collection of my essays.” I remember him chewing on a cigar when he told me this. But I may be making up the cigar.

I feel comfortable with Lamott’s advice. I am perfectly capable of producing “a shitty first draft” and of feeling, as she does, that I’d just as soon not die while it is lying on my desk, lest someone read it and assume my death was suicide. But following the guidance of my brash professor was another matter. Who me? I thought. I’m allergic to cigars. But, in the end, I tried his system. As an academic I wrote talks, wrote them into essays that I published, saw them anthologized, and gathered them into a book. I did not become an academic rock star or take up smoking, but the method served me well. I published, and at each stage became a better writer.

When I retired and began taking classes in creative writing, I fell into the system out of habit. I wrote pieces for my writing classes. I turned the pieces into blogs. I posted them on a collective site. Then I posted them on my own. Eventually, I did guest posts with the same materials. After four years, several posts have been anthologized and most of them are chapters in my memoir. Others are beginning to look a lot like a collection of essays on food and place. Good job, I told myself, thinking this would be the end, but then I hired a publicist who told me “No.” Now I had to link my book to larger issues. So, in preparation for the memoir’s launch, I began to write some essays that made those links. One is to be published but, even better, I have begun to see more clearly what the book is all about, and I have a new set of ideas to explore. So recycling? I’m a fan and I’m passing on my famous professor’s advice to you. Because once you’re past the stage of “shitty first draft,” it’s not just about recycling. It’s about revisioning and writing better as well.

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Judith Newton is Professor Emerita in Women and Gender Studies at U.C. Davis. Her latest release is Tasting Home: Coming of Age in the Kitchen, a culinary memoir.
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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9 comments first draft, Friday Speak Out, Judith Newton, recycling, revision, writer inspiration

Writer's Spring-Greening

I know it's not quite Spring yet, but it's never too early for "Spring-Greening." That's what I like to call cleaning out my office and finding a home for all those things that shouldn't go into a land fill, or even a recycling bin. Here's how to get rid of some of that stuff you have hanging around...the green way.


ELECTRONICS:

Batteries: Some stores (like Ikea, for instance) will take your alkaline batteries for proper disposal. Also, you can recycle rechargeable batteries when they finally kick the bucket. Check out RBRC (http://www.rbrc.org) to find a drop off site near you. They also take old cell phones.

Cell Phones: Other than RBRC (mentioned above), you can take the cell phone back to the place you bought it from. Some companies, such as T-Mobile and Verizon will recycle all brands of used cell phones. If you don't have access to a nearby store, check out Collective Good (http://www.collectivegood.com), and turn your cell donation into cash for your charity of choice!

Computers: So many out-of-date, obsolete monster PCs are unnecessarily sent to land fills, but The Christina Foundation (http://www.cristina.org) will pick up any old-but-working machine for redistribution to someone who can use it. Or, if you go through computers frequently, trade in your semi-oldish computer to recycling programs such as Toshiba (http://www.toshiba.eztradein.com) or HP (http://www.hp.com/united-states/tradein). For dead computers, visit E-cycling Central (http://www.eiae.org).

Fax Machines: Sending faxes online is so much easier! If you've switched to eFax or MyFax, then list your monster space waster at Throwplace (http://www.throwplace.org) and send it in as a donation.

Ink: Did you know that the average printer cartridge can take more than 450 years to decompose? The Funding Factory (http://www.fundingfactory.com) and RecycleFund (http://www.recyclefund.com) will give you cash for empty cartridges, then recycle them! Also, many ink manufacturers and office-supply stores will take them off your hands as well.

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Tip: Another good place for getting rid of anything that may not be of use to you, but could help someone else is FreeCycle (http://www.freecycle.org). You can list the things (anything) you want to get rid of and someone will pick it up! And conversely, if you are looking for something, you can browse through their listings and request to take whatever it is off of someone else's hands.

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MEDIA:

Books: If you're a book junkie like I am, you probably have a lot of books sitting around that are taking up space--especially those ones that you thought would be good, but actually weren't your cup of tea. You can always trade them in at your local used bookstore (or thrift store), or drop them off at the library. There are also a lot of sites to exchange books. Book Mooch (http://www.bookmooch.com) is a good one, and there's also Swap Tree (http://www.swaptree.com), and many others. Do a google search for "Book exchange" and see what you come up with. You can also list unwanted volumes on Book Crossing (http://www.bookcrossing.com), a free service that alerts users to books left in public places. Pretty cool, huh?

Computer CDs, DVDs, jewel cases, VHS tapes: Recycle these through Act Recycling (http://www.actrecycling.org), a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities find work. Also, Green Disk (http://www.greendisk.com) will take any hardware lying around the office (up to 20 pounds of monitors, cords, mice, keyboards etc.) for $6.95

Paperwork: If you're anything like me, I know you have a lot of paper lying around. Clear out your filing cabinet and go digital instead! By going digital and recycling paper, take a look at the resources saved per ton of paper: 17 trees, 275 pounds of sulphur, 350 lbs of limestone, 9,000 lbs of steam, 60,000 gal of water, 225 kilowatt hours, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. Check with your city or local waste management service to find a place for parting with your paper. You can also call 1 (800) CLEANUP for state recycling information.

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It's never too late or early to start spring-greening. By de-cluttering your home office, you can simplify your life and get into the writing zone. And it feels good!

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4 comments home office, recycling, writers spring cleaning