Birthdays: Sara Teasdale (1884), Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896), Valerie Sayers (1952)

Tip: Reward yourself even for small victories. Finish your first novel? Celebrate. Submit? Yay! Contract? That calls for a real celebration. Be sure to enjoy the small steps along the way as well as the big ones. Even if it’s something as small as “I wrote today”.

Thought for the day: “I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss – you can’t do it alone.” – John Cheever

Jumpstart: Your character wakes without the ability to communicate with those around her. What does she do?