Model of Jerusalem at the time of the 2nd Temple now situated at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Monday, May 16, 2011

PLANNING YOUR WRITING CALENDAR A YEAR IN ADVANCE

This  month is both traumatic and rich in writing opportunities here in Israel.
It starts off with  the festival of Pesach ( Passover) with all its myriand preparations from spring cleaning to clothes and food shopping and cooking.

This is followed just a week after the end of the festival,by Holocaust Memorial day.

Exactly one week later we have  Memorial Day for soldiers fallen in Israel's wars and terrorist attacks
.And the next day is Independence Day.

This month is both  a writer's blessing and nightmare. There are so many opportunities and so many possibilities to write about but you have to be very well organized to make the most of it.

And that organization starts a full 12 months in advance.

My neighbor's daughter went on a trip to see what remains of some of  the concentration camps of Europe and was there with the Israeli contingent on Holocaust Memorial Day.
As soon as she returned I went and interviewed her - ready for an article on this topic next year.. If I wait too long she'll have forgotten all her fresh memories and the raw feeling of pain  that she experienced there.


As I was cleaning and cooking before  Passover I made notes of things worth adding to an article or blog on Passover preparations for next year.

Wandering around town on the eve of Independence Day I marveled at  how much the celebrations had changed over the years and my mind was already writing an essay on Independecne celebrations of 20 years ago - no use for this year but I have every chance of selling it next year. If I wait another six months until submission time to write it I'll have forgotten all those memories that sprung up on the day itself this year.

The time when most of us have the greatest ideas for articles about an event, whether it is  Thanksgiving/ Xmas/  summer vacations /  Mother's Day etc , is in the midst of the event itself.

Don't despair and think you've missed the boat. Write it now and make a note in whatever form of online, virtual or physical calendar  you use, to remember to submit it in its entirety or a pitch in  6 - 9 month's time depending  on whether  it's a weekly, monthly or daily  publication or site.

Planning a year ahead makes sure you never get writer's block and can help keep the checks flowing.

2 comments:

  1. I am so impressed with your organisational skills. I'm quite sure that if I made notes now for an article next year I would forget I'd done it or forget where I'd filed it away... and I'm so impatient too. I want to do things now, not next year. But I do understand what you mean. You have to write down each experience while it's still alive in your mind.

    And you've added a photograph - yay! You haven't changed at all!

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  2. Hi Ros,
    Thanks for finding me. I have to admit I'm a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde. In my writing life I can be well organised and on time whereas in 'real life' I'm a disorganised disaster who can't remember what I did ten minutes ago or what I'm supposed to be doing tomorrow!

    As for the pic - well you're so kind ( did I always look so old!)

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