Seasonal Writing
The approach of Christmas with it's warmth and glitz may make you want to start writing Christmas stories. But in publishing terms, you've missed the boat for this year: most magazines commission seasonal work 2-3 months ahead of the season.
The seasons and holidays which mark the passing of each year are excellent inspiration, and magazines will always want suitable articles. This provides an excellent opportunity for writers. Any submissions need to consider the specific requirements of that market - formatting, guidelines, style etc.
If you want to write holiday / seasonal articles and stores, then these tips will help:
1) Originality
While there is scope for articles that look at the history of a particular holiday, your work needs to have a specific angle or approach which renders it unique. For example, a piece on "Why we celebrate Halloween" is unlikely to find a market, a piece looking at "Spike in Criminal activity around Halloween" is more likely to be of interest. The trick is to find a new angle, or to publish a variation on the theme. Remember though that at the holidays, the preference is usually for upbeat stories. "The Dad who died at Christmas" will be a tough sell!
2) Rewrite traditional stories
There is a trend to rewrite / reinvent traditional stories, which Disney does very successfully. Can you offer an alternative explanation of how gifts are delivered that doesn't involve Santa? Raymond Briggs published an alternative story, where Santa is a grumpy old man! (He is the author / illustrator behind the Snow Man. This year, Amazon is running a competition for a modern version of the night before Christmas: https://www.writers-online.co.uk/news/latest-news/could-you-write-amazons-new-classic-christmas-story
Caution: if something is still in copyright (lasts until 70 years after the death of the author in the UK), don't attempt a rewrite without permission from the author, or you may land up in hot water!
3) Calendar
Keep a calendar of holidays that inspire you, and set a diary reminder to begin work on the piece 3-4 months ahead of the holiday. I use Outlook for this purpose, and have constant reminders for work to submit, write, upcoming competitions etc.
If you do find that you are more inspired at the actual holiday, then write the story / article, and save it to pitch in September of the following year.
4) There are more holidays than Christmas and Halloween!
Wikipedia has a long list of holidays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_holidays
They vary according to religion, country and culture. Some of the more obscure such as "Mole Day", an unofficial holiday on the 23rd of October will offer greater scope for articles. A UK magazine is less likely to be interested in a piece on American Independence Day, and a US magazine is less likely to be interested in St George's day, unless you give it a local twist.
Be a writer for all seasons - they are a great source of inspiration.