~ A Different Kind of Holiday ~

After being in the writing and editing business for . . . let’s just say ‘a good, long time’ . . . I have discovered that September is Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month. Who knew?! I sure didn’t, until now; but I am totally in favor of it!
I researched this “holiday” out of curiosity and discovered that it wasn’t a holiday until 2007 when it was started by a group now known as the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE). I didn’t know about them either, even though that has been their name since 2009. That’s 17 years, if you don’t like doing math in your head. They must be one of America’s best kept secrets although that’s probably not their goal.
Since most of you also probably haven’t heard of this group or this holiday before, I have taken in upon myself to provide a guide to proper celebration of Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month. My qualifications are that I am an editor and a writer, although I have never been associated with NAIWE, nor am I on their Board of Experts. (Although it would be nice to be considered an expert in something.)
The best way to celebrate BKEWM (my abbreviation, not theirs) would simply be to read. Read anything: books, short stories, comic books, poems, the backs of cereal boxes . . . The possibilities are endless. I once knew a teenager who liked to read antique tractor manuals. He’s not a teenager any more, but I think he’s still interested in the antique tractors.
I have always read everything I could get my hands on. When I was a kid, I actually had time to read everything I wanted. I read all the time. I used to read the backs of the cereal boxes when I ate my breakfast. Even now, I sometimes read a book or magazine article while I eat my lunch. I read emails all day long. Occasionally, I pick up a newspaper. (Haha. Like, every day!)
I also try to write in a journal every day. I don’t succeed every day, but I try. Journal writing is easy – if you just make yourself find the time. You don’t need prior experience, you don’t need good handwriting, you don’t need to know grammar, spelling, or punctuation. You don’t even have to show your journal to anyone else. In fact, you can just draw pictures in a journal, too. I’ve also seen some really clever doodle journals. Kids tend to be really good at those and it can extend into adulthood. You don’t have to consider yourself a writer to put ideas down in a journal.
Celebrating the creativity and passion that writers and editors put into their work might be more necessary now than ever before. Nowadays, people like to communicate in texts and tweets. (Or have tweets become X’s? Not to be confused with X’s & O’s, which are entirely different and associated with another holiday in February.) I let myself go on a tangent there because I am celebrating writing.
Anyway, we should appreciate people who still feel that writing is a craft worth preserving and who dedicate themselves to producing interesting stories and ideas and celebrating the joy of creativity.
Of course, you can celebrate any way you want. Write a letter. Wait a couple months and write a Christmas card. Read a letter, or a newspaper. Write a letter to the newspaper. Be creative and don’t forget to be kind.