Things That Make You Go Wow - by Melissa Clark

I have not laid eyes on my WIP in weeks, maybe months. Instead I've been spending my writing time reading. The other day I finished the fantastic "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett. Boy, did I love this book. I hope I can bring to my new book what I found in her novel including:

1. Humor - I giggled out loud multiple times while reading this. There are such hilarious interactions between characters that I reread sections over and over to study the humor. Like a good joke, the book managed to create anticipatory humor as well. There was build up, build up, and more build up and then bam! A perfect punch line.

2. Plot Points - Patchett did a meticulous job in plotting out her story. There were twists and turns, surprises, revelations, one after the other that really kept me turning the pages.

3. Characterization - Dr. Annick Swenson, the protagonist's mentor/antagonist/etc. was so real and scary and intimidating to me as a reader. Whenever she appeared in scenes I found myself tensing, holding my breath and hoping the protagonist, Marina, didn't misstep around her (which she did, often, a cause for great humor in the book) These people were real - alive on the page and beyond.

4. Setting - I loved being in the Amazon as much as I loved being in Manaus as much as I loved being in Minnesota because Ann Patchett really explored her settings with careful, vivid and compelling details.

5. Imperfection is okay - Did I love the ending of the book? No. Was I a little let down? Yes. Is that okay? Absolutely. Books. like humans, can be inherently flawed and that's just fine. While I was slightly disappointed by the ending, it did not ruin the overall reading experience for me. As I did not write this book, I have no say in how the author chose (or rather the story made the author choose) how to end it.

What books have you read lately that have made you go WOW?

Melissa Clark is the author of "Swimming Upstream, Slowly" and teaches literature and writing at Otis College of Art and Design and The Writing Pad, in Los Angeles, CA. Please follow her on her blog, Connections Clark.

32 days of writing

Carleen Brice here. I don't make resolutions, but this year I did participate in a "challenge" for the New Year. Last year, some online writer buddies and I started the 32-day writing challenge, with the idea that we would write every day for the first 32 days of the year. It was based on this essay by Ann Patchett in which she discusses her realizations that she needed to treat writing as a job. The quote that got us started:

"[Patchett's friend] told me that her teacher, a great and wise yogi, believed that whatever a person did with thoughtful consistency for the first 32 days of the year set the course for the entire year."

If it was good enough for yogis and Patchetts, we thought it was good enough for us. I created a Facebook page and we went to work. Even though it was very helpful and got me into the habit of writing every day, I had no intention of doing it again. Because I didn't want another online obligation. I blog. I Facebook. I Tweet. I Litchat (this week I'm guest hosting all week!). I Blacklitchat. That seemed like plenty, but of course my same writer buddies convinced me we should do it again this year. Still had the Facebook page, so why not?

Today is day 31 of the 32-day writing challenge. I confess I did not write every day. HOWEVER, I did write a damn good synopsis for a story and climb back into my novel in a way that I hadn't in a very long time. I got back to the place where I'm totally immersed in the world of my novel and am more concerned about my characters than I am about some of the real people in my life. I think I'm about to make that breakthough of understanding I will need to get me to the end.

I believe that the more we do of a thing, the more we do of it. When we put our energies and our intentions and, to be less woo-woo, when we put our focus on something, we make more of it. Sitting on the couch watching TV = more sitting on the couch watching TV. Healthy eating = more healthy eating. Writing = more writing.

It's never too late to set your intentions for the future. If you want to write every day or most days, start writing today and then do some tomorrow and then some the next day.

Carleen Brice is the author of Orange Mint and Honey and Children of the Waters, which you should totally buy or check out from the library.