Michelle Richmond

Five Things I Love (& 5 I Can Do Without)

Cafe Kitsune Paris, with book from Librarie Galignani

When I go through a dry spell in my writing, I find it helps to think in fives. Instead of beginning the day with a scene from my novel-in-progress, I begin with a quick exercise: write about five of something. Five books I love, five cities I’ve lived in, five dates, five meals…anything.

In her excellent and esoteric blog Writer’s Notebook, NorCal native and Paris expat Summer Brennan explains the origins of the Five Things post.

“There seems to be something about the number five that helps to give a satisfying structure, at least to the writer, if not to the reader,” Brennan writes.

With that inspiration, I’m sharing my own five things: Five Things I Love and Five I Can Do Without. (I considered calling this post “5 Things I Love and Five I Loathe.” That would have been a catchier title, but a dishonest one. There’s nothing in this list of fives I actually hate. I began with the idea of very strong preferences. Here goes: Five Things I Love, and their less lovable counterparts.

Coffee not Tea

I have a secret bias. If someone reveals that they drink tea instead of coffee, I automatically mistrust them. I don’t think they’re morally corrupt, necessarily, but I question their common sense. Fair or no, I associate tea with china cups and doilies. Ruffled lampshades. Dusty sofas in floral patterns. I secretly suspect that the majority of tea-drinkers can name the lesser royals and perhaps even recall their more questionable moments in haberdashery. (I do have dear friends who drink tea and exhibit none of these characteristics, and I fully admit my bias is not based in fact). By contrast, in my mind, a coffee drinker’s lamps give good light. Their linens are unfussy. They like to get stuff done.

Give me coffee (I wrote a whole book about it)—the stronger the better. Black, not doctored. Give me energy and focus, the noise of the coffee grinder, the oil of the beans, the straight-to-the-brain olfactory joy when you pour the ground beans into the filter basket. Give me the heat, the first bitter taste, the burn in the throat, the electric charge. Give me a really good drip machine.

technivorm moccamaster — Best coffeemaker ever: Technivorm Moccamaster

Coffee in Paris, Les Deux Magots — Best coffeemaker ever: Technivorm Moccamaster

I should mention my husband drinks neither tea nor coffee. He is strictly a hot chocolate man. Once, when he edited one of my novels, he replaced every mention of the male protagonist drinking coffee with the male protagonist drinking hot chocolate. Despite reservations, I let it stand. Several layperson reviewers objected. “No grown man drinks that much hot chocolate,”they said. For some readers, the prevalence of hot chocolate in the novel created a problem of verisimilitude, a corruption of the fictional dream.

I will quote one of the reviewers, who calls herself muppetbaby99 and who writes a great blog called Doubleplusgood where she does wildly entertaining “live readings” of novels. She posted about The Marriage Pact for several days in July of 2017, right after the book came out. On the matter of hot chocolate, she had this to say:

I think Michelle Richmond must own stock in a bunch of different ‘hot chocolate beverage flavouring chemical’ companies due to sheer number of times she mentions/describes HOT CHOCOLATE in this story. She must be getting a kick-back from Nestle

If I were the type of writer to correct readers on matters of the possible, I would have responded, “But there are men who drink that much hot chocolate. I am married to one of them!” Of course I am not that type of writer. Readers are, after all, entitled to their opinions. May they all be so lucky as fall in love with a man who is man enough to drink hot chocolate instead of coffee or tea.

P.S. I don’t own stock in Nestle BUT we do have an entire cabinet full of Benco, the French equivalent of Nesquik, which my husband buys by the case whenever he goes back to Paris.

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The Wonder Test discussion questions

Is your book club reading THE WONDER TEST? Here are a few questions to kick off your discussion.

THE WONDER TEST examines the lengths a community will go for excellence. What do you think of the real-life academic pressures kids face? Are the pressures different than when you were growing up? Also, have you noticed any change in the way families in your community, or perhaps your own family, handle stress and pressure—whether it be in academics, sports, career, or simply lifestyle—in the past year and a half?

Lina and Rory are suffering two losses at the book’s opening, the death of two people important to both of them. How realistic is the book’s portrayal of loss and coping? What might you have done differently in Lina’s situation? What might you have done similarly?

Lina Connerly and her husband, Fred, made one choice when they decided to become parents: that they would always answer their child truthfully. What do you think of this approach? Is it sensible? Is it even possible? If you have children or nieces/nephews, how do you handle their difficult questions?

One of the primary themes of THE WONDER TEST is that the correct thing to do is not always the right thing to do. At one point, Lina says of her parenting, “I’m probably doing everything wrong. Still, it seems to work.” What is something you have done “wrong” or against common wisdom that has nonetheless worked for you?

What scene or line in the book resonated most with you? Why?

What character from the book would you least or most want to know in real life? If you had to spend a weekend with either Lina Connerly or George Voss, who would you choose?

Did you attempt to answer any of the test questions posed at the beginning of the chapters? What was your favorite question, or the one most memorable to you, and why?

Searching for Leonard Cohen in Hydra

In July of 2020, we escaped crowded Paris for a remote region of Greece. This audio story, excerpted from my memoir-in-progress about my family’s expat years in Paris, is exclusive to subscribers at The Wandering Writer.

7 Inspiring Books for Writers in Any Genre

Every writer must be a reader first, and the best education you can get is by reading. The most inspiring books for writers aren’t necessarily books about writing. Remember the first novel you wanted to tell others about? The first story that stuck in your mind? The first character you wished you could know in real life?

Reading widely across genres is essential. If you want to write literary fiction, reading crime novels can give you a stronger grasp on plot. If you want to write thrillers, reading literary novels can help you better understand the nuances of character development. Immerse yourself in novels, story collections, essays, poetry. Read for pleasure, and read with analytical eye. See what makes the writing tick. Those books will the foundation of your education in writing.

But when the well is dry, when you go to your computer or your notebook and feel adrift, books about writing can get you into the writing mood again. Here are seven books for writers that I recommend to students in my novel writing class, ranging from the practical to the inspiring.

First You Write a Sentence: The Elements of Reading, Write, and Life, by Joe Moran

This isn’t just a book about what makes a wonderful sentence (although it is that). It’s also a book about how sentences lead us into our writing, how sentences guide us to discovery and help an idea become a story. This book is an inspiration for those of us who geek out on language and a primer for anyone who wants to know how a great sentence is made, and why it matters. Get it on Amazon.

Novel Starter: 50 Days of Exercises and Advice to Help You Start Your Novel, from the Fiction Attic Press Master Class Series

Designed to help writers kickstart their novels, Novel Starter features 50 days of assignments, prompts, and inspiration, arranged in a progression to help you get the most out of your writing practice. Ten-minute prompts help you break through writers’s block, generative exercises help you write scenes and chapters, and craft keys demystify the fundamentals of narrative craft. If you want a 50-day boot camp to get your novel off the ground, this is the book for you. Get Novel Starter on Amazon.

Writing Past Dark: Envy, Fear, Distraction, and Other Dilemmas in The Writer’s Life, by Bonnie Friedman

According to Friedman, “Successful writers are not the ones who write the best sentences, they are the ones who keep writing.” While the other books on this list focus on narrative craft, Writing Past Dark is the book you’ll turn to when you feel gobsmacked by your novel, and you’re not sure how (or why) to continue. Get it on Amazon.

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction, by Patricia Highsmith

You don’t have to be a writer of crime fiction or thrillers to learn a great deal from this slim, to-the-point guide on creating suspense in fiction. Highsmith’s advice on everything from plotting to getting past “snags” is invaluable to novelists in any genre. As a writer of literary fiction, I found that it provided me with a much-needed kick in the pants. Get it on Amazonor Bookshop.org.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Listen to this audiobook whenever you think, “Why am I doing this? Can I really do this?” Gilbert is like a cheerleader standing on the sidelines of your writing life. Get it at Bookshop.org or Audible.

The Apprentice Writer: Essays, by Julian Green

A refreshing, wide-ranging collection of essays by a French-American writer. While the essays cover various subjects such as translation and Paris neighborhoods, the book is worth reading for the essays “How a Novelist Begins,” “Where do Novels Come From?”, and “Lectures on Writing.” This one isn’t that easy to find, but if you do stumble across it, be sure to buy it!

On Writing:A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

By the time I got around to reading this modern classic by one of the most prolific writers of our time, I’d already published three novels. I wish I’d found it sooner! While King’s smart, down-to-earth memoir/writing lesson is a must-read for beginning novelists, fiction writers at any stage of their careers will find much to admire and be inspired by. Consider it a crash course in how to write fiction that people want to read. Get it at Bookshop.org or Audible.

Letters to a Young Writer, by Colum McCann

This wide-ranging book by Pulitzer Prize winning author and long-time teacher McCann is one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read on writing. McCann talks about how to focus on the work instead of the ego, how to get past envy, how to work with an agent, and why exhaustion is an essential part of the writing process. If you’re in a slump, this brilliant little book will pull you out of it. Get it on Amazon or Bookshop.org.

Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author of THE WONDER TEST, THE MARRIAGE PACT, and six other novels and story collections. She mentors writers through Fiction Master Class.