Birthdays: Stanley Elkin (1930), Camilo Jose Cela (1916), Irving Berlin (1888), Richard P. Feynman (1918)

Tip: Check the house style for the publisher you’re submitting to. Most use the standard Times New Roman, 12 point, double spacing, left only justification. But some prefer 1.5 spacing. Follow their guidelines. Yes, it may mean you have multiple copies of the same manuscript in different formats, but that’s better than ignoring their rules.

Thought for the day: “Ideas? My head is full of them, one after the other, but they serve no purpose there. They must be put down on paper, one after the other.” – Camilo Jose Cela

Jumpstart: It’s five years after your story ended. What are the characters doing now? What has happened in that five years?