Birthdays: Ovid (43 B.C.), Henrik Ibsen (1828), Lois Lowry (1937), Ellen Conford (1942), Mitsumasa Anno (1926), Bill Martin Jr (1916), Louis Sachar (1954), Emily Giffin (1972), Isabel Burton (1831)

Tip: Go through your work and look for weak verbs and change them to stronger, more descriptive ones. Instead of “he walked”, try: strode, crept, tiptoed, stomped, etc. to describe how he is walking.

Thought for the day: “My personal opinion is that you should not worry about ‘being published’. You should enjoy writing, and writing more and more, so that you become better at it. I always sort of cringe when I hear, ‘I want to be a published writer’ from a kid. I’d rather hear, ‘I love to write’.” – Lois Lowry

Jumpstart: Your house is on fire. You live alone and have no pets so there is nobody else to worry about. What do you try to save?