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A List of Special Events for Article Writers
A Little Mind Kickstarting for You All
Whether you write articles online for a site like HubPages, or you write articles for magazines and newspapers, there will come a time when your brain shuts down and you can’t think of an idea to save you.
Luckily, I’m here for you. “Here I come to save the day; that means that Mighty Mouse is on the way.”
Am I the only one who remembers that cartoon and song?
But back to the purpose of this article. What follows is a partial list of special events and holidays that are held throughout the calendar year. I keep this list above my computer so I’ll always have it nearby when I’m stumped for a topic while doing my SEO business for customers.
Before I give you the list, though, let me give you a bit of free advice.
Free Advice….absolutely….free
Actually, this free advice is a two-parter, so you get two for the price of one, and since the price of one is free, well, you get it.
If you are an online writer, plan and write in advance. It takes a minimum of three months for an article to begin to circulate through the internet and show consistently on the search engines, so plan for that three months. If you see an event that happens in December, then you should write your article in September at the latest. Ideally you will write it six months in advance to really give yourself every chance of success.
Similarly, if you are querying magazines with ideas, remember that most magazines set their calendar a year in advance, so if you are doing an article about the 4th of July, you need to query magazines a year prior to the event you are writing about….say August 2015 for the 4th of July, 2016.
Now that we are clear on that, let’s take a look at some events you might draw inspiration from.
Event Calendar
January
Blood Donor Month
National Oatmeal Month
National Soup Month
National Hot Tea Month
Jan 1 New Years Day
Jan 5 National Bean Day
Jan 10 Peculiar People Day
Jan 16 Martin Luther King Jr Birthday
Jan 19 National Popcorn Day
Jan 23 National Pie Day
Jan 26 Spouses Day
Jan 27 Chocolate Cake Day
February
American Heart Month
Black History Month
Feb 1 National Freedom Day
Feb 2 Groundhog Day
Feb 3 Wear Red Day
Feb 11 Make A Friend Day
Feb 14 Valentine's Day
Feb 15 Singles Awareness Day
Feb 18 National Battery Day
Feb 20 Cherry Pie Day
Feb 20 President's Day
Feb 23 Tennis Day
Feb 24 National Tortilla Chip Day
March
National Athletic Training Month
Red Cross Month
Women's History Month
National Peanut Month
National Nutrition Month
March 1 Peanut Butter Lover's Day
March 2 Old Stuff Day
March 12 National kiss day
March 13 Earmuff Day
March 14 National Pi Day
March 17 St. Patricks Day
March 19 Poultry Day
March 25 Waffle Day
March 26 Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
March 29 National Ma and Pa Business Owner Day
April
March for Babies Month
National Humor Month
Patriots Day Third Monday of Month
April 1 April Fools Day
April 7 World Health Day
April 19 National High Five Day
April 23 Lovers Day
April 27 Babe Ruth Day
May
National Hamburger Month
National Salad Month
May 1st Principal Day
May 5 Cinco de Mayo
May 8 National Teachers Day
May 11 National Eat What You Want Day
May 13 Mothers Day
May 21 National Waitress and Waiter Day
June
School Custodian Day June 2
June 3 National repeat Day
June 8 National Best Friend Day
3rd Sunday in June Fathers Day
July
National Ice Cream Month
July 6 National Fried Chicken Day
July 20 Ugly Truck Day
July 29 National Lasagna Day
July 30 National Cheesecake Day
August
Admit You're Happy Month
Aug 4 National Mustard Day
Aug 27 Just Because Day
September
Chicken Month
Self Improvement Month
First Sunday after Labor Day Grandparents Day
Sept 5 Pizza Day
Sept 11 9/11 Day
Sept 18 Cheeseburger Day
October
Breast Cancer month
23-31 Red Ribbon Week
Oct 2 Name Your Car Day
Oct 16 Bosses Day
Oct 25 World Pasta Day
Oct 31 Halloween
November
National Alzheimer's Month
Nov 3 Sandwich Day
Nov 15 America Recycles Day
Nov 17 World Peace Day
Nov 22 Thanksgiving (2012)
December
Dec 7 Pearl Harbor
Dec 13 Ice Cream Day
Dec 25 Christmas Day
Dec 31 New Years Day
One word of caution: this calendar was for the year 2012. Some specific dates may be different for 2015, but all special events do exist and you’ll find the actual 2015 date easy enough online. I could have done it for you, but I was tired of giving you free stuff.
The Beauty of This List
Quite frankly, I love this list for its quirkiness. I mean come on, National Ice Cream Day? Admit You’re Happy Month? These are a writer’s dream, and with a little imagination on your part, I’m sure you can find some inspiration.
I recently had my good friend Liz (Radcliff on HubPages) do a guest blog post for me on my website, and she wrote about finding your angle. Let me share with you a portion of what she said:
“Whether you’re writing an essay or having a conversation, no one wants to tell a dry story devoid of that gasp-factor. Yet we’ve all had amazing tales to tell that simply fell flat straight out of our mouths or onto the page.
So how can plain stories be saved? How do we avoid putting readers to sleep with humdrum writing?
The answer is in the angle.
An angle adds an element of surprise to your personal essay or memoir. Although the angle is called something different in fiction writing or advertising, the gist is still the same. It’s what makes your story interesting, even if it’s happened a million times before.
Once you find your angle, you have a roadmap. A clear angle keeps your story trimmed down to the essential elements, making sure you don’t drift down any dead-end alleys.
For example, say I wanted to write an article on my current hometown of Hudson, Florida. This is about as dull and drab a place as you’ll ever find, so creating an angle is crucial. I could base my article on the subject–Hudson is six-point-something square miles, it’s an hour north of Clearwater, it’s in the Tampa Bay area–cluttery data no one cares about. Another option? I could interview my high school teachers who still teach, asking them how students here have changed over the past 25 years. This creates an angle from the subject. It adds interest–and perhaps surprise elements– to the story.
So how do you find an angle?
- Talk it through. Speaking out loud is a great way to pull the angle from your story, especially if you’re talking to an audience (spouse, parent, friend).
- Look at what’s trending on Google. Why is this story so gripping? The answer is your angle.
- Did you overhear someone say something that grabbed your attention? Did it make you angry/happy/worried? There’s your angle.
So if your story has you smacking yourself in frustration, remember: there’s an angle in there somewhere. Find it and your muse will rescue you from that crowded party of boring storytellers.”
Join my friend Liz on her website/blog
So There Is Your Challenge
You now have a funky list of funky dates to work with. Thanks to Liz, you also know that you need to find a special angle for those funky dates. If you do that, you most likely will have a winning article on your hands.
Best of luck to you all. Now, go out and dazzle us all.
2014 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
