Birthdays: Horace Walpole (1717), F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896), Robert Lewis Taylor (1912), John Brunner (1934), Eavan Boland (1944), David Drake (1945), John Kessel (1950), Richard K. Morgan (1965), Eleanor Catton (1985),
Robert Taylor won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters”
John Brunner won the 1968 Hugo Award for “Stand on Zanzibar”
Quote: “When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.” ― Horace Walpole
“All fine prose is based on the verbs carrying the sentences. They make sentences move.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tip: Figure out the GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) in your story. Every story should have this. In fact, each scene should have this. Try: (who) wants (what) because (why) but s/he can’t because (why not). For instance: Dorothy wants to go home because there’s no place like home but can’t because she needs to defeat the wicked witch and learns running away doesn’t help.
Jumpstart: “I’d never have done that with you if I’d known…”
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