When the Christmas season rolls around, writers begin to get great story ideas, or a Christmas poem dances in their head until they must get it into print form. The emotion is there, and that's the time to write the story. But if I write a Christmas story on December 7th, where in the world will I get it published with a mere 18 days time until Christmas Day? It's not going to happen. Christmas stories need to be submitted to editors months ahead of time, but guess what? Not many of us are moved to write a Christmas story in June or July.
Nor do we come up with an Easter story in the autumn months, or a Halloween story in April. But that's what a writer needs to do. How do you get the inspiration months ahead of time? It's not easy. For me, the best way is to write the story when the holiday is close, when you're inspired. Then put it away for several months when you can submit it to an editor.
Doing it that way presents its own problem. You must remember that you have written the story and where you've filed it. It's all too easy to put it away and then forget it completely. Go through your files at least once a month. By doing this on a regular basis, the list becomes very familiar and you're not going to miss out completely. You'll be ready to send a seasonal story in plenty of time.
So go ahead and write that Christmas story this month, but save it to submit for next year. Got an Easter story in your file? Send it out now!
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