Birthdays: Robert Heinlein (1907), Nikki Giovanni (1943), Harriet Ziefert (1941)

Tip: Hooks keep a reader reading, keeps them turning the pages. They answer the questions: who, what, why, when, where, how. They should pull your reader in and keep them interested. They’re especially a good way to end a chapter.

Thought for the day: “If you describe things as better than they are, you are considered to be a romantic; if you describe things as worse than they are, you will be called a realist; and if you describe things exactly as they are, you will be thought of as a satirist.” – Quentin Crisp

Jumpstart: Your character is a straight-laced good girl, but now she has to do something out of character – strip, or commit a crime, or hurt someone. What does she have to do and why? How does she react?