Birthdays: Nathanael West (1903), Ester Wier (1910), Arthur Miller (1915), Jimmy Breslin (1930), Robert Jordan (1948), Ariel Levy (1974), David Means (1961), Patrick Ness (1971), Wally Lamb (1950)

Tip: If you have several projects you want to work on but can’t decide which one to do first, take fifteen minutes and write on each project. Just write, as quickly as you can for fifteen minutes, then take a short break and go on to the next project. The project to work on is the one where you forget to stop after fifteen minutes and keep going or the one which, when you read it, it really grabs you.

Thought for the day: “You have to have talent to some extent – I certainly hope I have talent – but you have to have luck as well. Once you get that first shot, that will get you noticed for the rest of your books and that will give the rest of your books a better chance.” – Robert Jordan

Jumpstart: This is what I knew about love before he came along. Now, I know better…