August 12

Birthdays: Helena Blavatsky (1831), Jacinto Benavente (1866), Edith Hamilton (1867), Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876), Zema Sharp (1889), Ruth Stiles Gannett (1923), Donald Justice (1925), Wallace Markfield (1926), William Goldman (1931), Walter Dean Myers (1937), Gail Parent (1940), Deborah Howe (1946), Sue Monk Kidd (1948), Ann Martin (1955), Katherine Boo (1964), Anthony Swofford (1970)

Zema Sharp is known for creating the “Dick and Jane” readers.

Donald Justice won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for “Selected Poems”

Deborah Howe is known for the “Bunnicula” series written with her husband.

Quote: “It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought—that is to be educated.” [Saturday Evening Post, September 27, 1958]” ― Edith Hamilton

“Everyone thinks that having a talent is a matter of luck; no one thinks that luck could be a matter of talent.” ― Jacinto Benavente

Tip: Get yourself a good dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar book—or know where to look for them online. The Chicago Manual of Style is considered the best for most writing. Also Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus. And use them!

Jumpstart: Pretend you’re a doll living in a doll house. What is it like? What do you see from your vantage point? Who plays with you? In what way?

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August 13

Birthdays: Alfred Hitchcock (1899), Kamila Shamsie (1973), Tom Perotta (1961), Sharon Kay Penman (1945), Nikolaus Lenau (1802)

Quote: “The hardest part about being a writer is not getting your commas in the right place, but getting your head in the right place.” – Ralph Keyes

Tip: Secondary characters should not take over a scene unless there’s a very good reason. They are there to support the main characters or add color to the story, not to be the main reason for the story. If they start to take over, then maybe you’re telling the story from the wrong point of view.

Jumpstart: Pick a famous piece of art or sculpture and write about the artist as s/he was creating it.

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August 14

Birthdays: Russell Baker (1925), William Kittredge (1932), Alice Provensen (1918)

Quote: “Get out of your own way. Do not let the hows and whys stop you from writing. “ – Susan Macias

Tip: Read your dialogue out loud. Does it sound like real people are talking? Or is it stilted and long winded? You should strive to keep dialogue real, but don’t copy real speech. If you listen to real people talking, you’ll find that most conversations are full of inanities.

Jumpstart: You’re on your way to a job interview. You stop at a convenience store for some coffee and a rude person cuts in front of you. Then turns and spills his drink on your new suit. And blames you. You tell him off….and get to the interview a few minutes late only to see him on the other side of the desk. What do you do?

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August 15

Birthdays: Sir Walter Scott (1771), Thomas de Quincey (1785), Edith Nesbit (1858), Sri Aurobindo (1872), Edna Ferber (1885), Julia Child (1912), Leonard Baskin (1922), Linda Ellerbee (1944), Garry Disher (1949), Stieg Larsson (1954), Mary Jo Salter (1954)

Edna Ferber won the 1924 Pulitzer for Fiction for “So Big”

Quote: “Books should be cherished, like children, books are for the next generation, like children, like history.” – Edna Ferber

Tip: When writing a scene with setting, don’t forget about background noises we hear every day—birds chirping (or not for suspense), traffic, thunder, etc. Also think about background smells and other sensory items.

Jumpstart: The old stairs creaked and groaned under her weight and she was afraid the noise would…

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August 16

Birthdays: Hugo Gernsback (1884), T.E. Lawrence (1888), Georgette Heyer (1902), Wallace Thurman (1902), William Maxwell, Jr. (1908), Matt Christopher (1917), Charles Bukowski (1920), Diana Wynne Jones (1934), Benjamin Alire Saenz (1954), Jennifer Donnelly (1963), Valeria Luiselli (1983)

Hugo Gernsback’s contributions to science fiction were so great that the prestigious Hugo Award is named for him.

T.E. Lawrence is well known as Lawrence of Arabia. His books include “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” and “Revolt in the Desert”

Georgette Heyer essentially began the Regency romance genre of writing.

William Maxwell, Jr. won the 1982 National Book Award for “So Long, See You Tomorrow”

Benjamin Alire Saenz won the 1992 American Book Award for “Calendar of Dust”

Quote: “A library is a place full of mouth-watering food for thought.” – Diana Wynne Jones

Tip: Passive vs. active voice: active voice (preferred) is when the subject of the sentence is doing something while passive is where the thing is having something done to it. Active: John threw the ball. Passive: the ball was thrown by John. Active voice gives your writing more impact.

Jumpstart: You hate big, fancy parties but must attend one coming up because it’s in your honor. What did you do? What happens?

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August 17

Birthdays: Ted Hughes (1930), V.S. Naipaul (1932), Herta Muller (1953), Jonathan Franzen (1959), Jessie Burton (1982),

V.S. Naipaul won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature

Herta Muller won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature

Jonathan Franzen won the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction

Quote: “You are who you choose to be.” ― Ted Hughes, The Iron Man

“Read it out loud. I did this five times with The Muse – exhausting, but helpful. The brain, when you read silently, often corrects things for you. It’s only when you hear the rhythm of your sentences aloud, does your choice of words fall, or clear the hurdle. Muddy images, unintentionally repetitious adjectives, things that just don’t *land*…the list goes on.” – Jessie Burton

Tip: When a writer stutters, it means that s/he has used the same major word twice within the same sentence or paragraph, or has started too many sentences or paragraphs the same way, has given all his or her characters names that start with the same letter, or has repeated the same action too many times. Look over your work. How often have you “stuttered”?

Jumpstart: You’re on your way back from a trip. At the luggage kiosk, you grab what you’re sure is your bag. After all, it had that red ribbon you specifically tied to it. When you get home, you open it and find…

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August 18

Birthdays: A.A. Milne (1882), William Sansom (1912), Elsa Morante (1912), Brian Aldiss (1925), Robert Anton Wilson (1932), Sonia Levitin (1934), Paula Danziger (1944), Brian Pinkney (1961), Nicole Krauss (1974),

Quote: “How do you spell ‘love’?” – Piglet
“You don’t spell it…you feel it.” – Pooh”
― A.A. Milne

“A writer wants something more than money for his work: he wants permanence.” – A.A. Milne

Tip: Which witch is which? They’re over there with their parents. To be, or two bee—which is the right question? Homonyms trip up more writers than any other words. The most common mix-ups are usually those dealing with apostrophes, especially it’s vs. its and they’re/their/there. And you can’t rely on a spell check program to find these errors for you. They aren’t spelled incorrectly—but they are often used incorrectly. Have someone who knows the difference check your work.

Jumpstart: They say that time heals all wounds, but years have passed since that day, and I still feel…