I have had a dearth of my own writing; still I think, eat and breathe writing. I research what other writers have to say about writing and internalize what I learn to either use or to discard. The latest site is johndbrown.com/writers/. He has interesting things to say about what makes 'knock you head off' good writing. The stuff that flies off the shelves in bookstores and we tend to devour in one sitting. The type of story we get emotionally invested in and think about long after we have read the last page.
I recently read 'Kite Runner' by Khalad Housenni and he definitely is the type of writer that gets you emotionally invested in the story. I was more aware of the physical reaction to such strong emotions; tight chest, tingle through head and arms and even tears. We love these kinds of stories because we can have a whole range of emotional responses without having to leave the comfort of our living room couch. It's like the old saying, "They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel".
With my own writing I write the things I would like to read. So in my free moments, as was suggested by by an author, mayalassiter.com/blog/?p=715 I progress my story so that when I sit down to write I can write and not have to stew about ideas or fight off the worries of the world. 300+ words on Tree of Life.
