Christmas, and at Christmas that notorious article, "Easter in many
Lands," should be approaching completion. It is useless to send in (as so
many thoughtless ones do send in) an essay on the New Year just before
Christmas, or a seaside dissertation towards the end of July. And this
applies not only to the great annual festivals and seasons, but also to
all important political, social, and general events whose dates are known
beforehand. Take, for an instance, the annual meeting of the British
Association. If you send to an editor an anecdotal history of the British
Association only a a few days before the meeting itself, you thereby
assume that the editor is depending for his topical articles on chance
contributions received at the last moment. Which is patently absurd.
Without doubt that editor had arranged his British Association articles a
couple of months previously, and it is not improbable that he accepted the
suggestions of some outside contributor who had been clever enough to look
into the future. It is a good plan to compile for reference a calendar of
festivals, seasons, and public events, exactly such as the editor himself
must use.

2. Women need not confine themselves to women's subjects. Many women
writers seem to think that they are debarred by some defect or limitation
of sex from treating topics other than those commonly termed feminine. But
there is no reason why a woman should not deal as effectively as a man
with general matters. (To argue that, because the male journalist does not
usually touch women's affairs without being ridiculous, therefore the
converse holds good, is illogical.) I lay stress on this.

3. Do not disdain to write mere paragraphs. The present is an era of
paragraphs, and they form a most marketable commodity. Scarcely an editor
but is continually gaping for topical paragraphs. Moreover paragraphs are
less difficult to write than articles, since they demand less constructive