Birthdays: Charles Wright (1935), Lane Smith (1959). Bret Harte (1839), Brian Moore (1921), Margaret Maron (1938), Charles Ghigna (1946), Frederick Forsyth (1938), Howard Jacobson (1942), Leonard Bernstein (1918), Martin Amis (1949), Taslima Nasrin (1962)

Tip: A fragment is a sentence that is missing something, usually the subject, as in: “And do it now.” In this fragment, the subject is implied. But a fragment can also be a single word: “Now!” They can be used to a good effect, but don’t overuse them or they lose their impact.

Thought for the day: “As a novelist nowadays, you have to assume that everything you say will be, for some reader somewhere (and maybe for hundreds of them), something they know a lot about. And they do not forgive slovenly descriptions riddled with errors.” – Frederick Forsyth

Jumpstart: You walk into English class in school. Everyone’s staring at you… why? Are you a student? Or a teacher? What’s happening?