Birthdays: Arthur Rimbaud (1854), Samuel Flagg Bemis (1891), Frederic Dannay (1905), Art Buchwald (1925), Robert Pinsky (1940), Lewis Grizzard (1946), Elfriede Jelinek (1946), David Profumo (1955), Gennifer Choldenko (1957), Lynn Flewelling (1958), Kate Mosse (1961), Michael McClure (1932), Nikki Grimes (1950)

Tip: Turn off your inner critic. Don’t compare, analyze, criticize. Just write.

Thought: Five minutes of writing a day is better than no minutes. Too many new writers think that unless they have plenty of time, it’s not worth booting up the computer or sharpening that pencil. But think of it, instead, like practising scales on the piano before tackling that Beethoven Concerto or like warming-up in the gym – the more you prepare for writing, the better shape you’ll be in once you have time to really concentrate.” Kate Mosse

Jumpstart: It was an old song that took me back to that day. The day when my life changed forever.