Birthdays: Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804), Rube Goldberg (1883), Lionel Trilling (1905), Ann Landers (1918), Abigail Van Buren (1918), Neil Simon (1927), Richard Rhodes (1937), Thomas Nagel (1937), Tomaž Šalamun (1941), Jaimy Gordon (1944), Deon Meyer (1956),

Neil Simon won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for “Lost in Yonkers”

Richard Rhodes won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for “The Making of the Atomic Bomb”

Quotes: “The more you do it, the better you become. There is nothing that improves your writing more than just sitting down and doing it.” – Deon Meyer

“A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne, Fanshawe

“If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, ‘I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.” ― Ann Landers

Tip: It is Independence Day in the US. What do you need to do to mark your independence in writing? Carve out space and time for yourself and declare your independence.

Jumpstart: If you could go back in time and change one thing in your life, would you? What would it be? Why would you change that?