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Saturday, February 6, 2016

Writing vs. Cooking

My social media followers know my posts show them several aspects of my life. I hike and camp as much as I can. I voice political opinions. I take pictures. But two things dominate my social media presence. Writing and cooking. If you don’t believe me, check these links out:


Instagram:  https://goo.gl/ZqeYcP


If you took the time to look, then came back to read the rest of this post, you know that I love food in ways banned by most holy books. In fact, when I give something up in observance of one fast or another, it’s usually food. For example, I haven’t eaten pork in almost a year. But this post isn’t about that. It’s about the similarities between the two dominant themes of my social media presence.

Writing is a fairly straightforward process for me. I have the idea for a book, and make a few notes. Those notes become a sort of outline, inasmuch as I use an outline, for the story I’m writing. Over time, I add ideas here and there, imagine a few scenes that will anchor the plot, and put it all in order. Finally, I read the book myself. If I don’t like it, I adjust it a little. When I’m happy with my creation, I give it to my editors, so they can tell me what they likes and don’t like about the book, and tell me what else it needs. Once it’s just right, I share it with a few beta readers who tell me what they think of it. Then I share the book with the world.


Now I’m going to do something interesting to prove my point about why writing is so similar to cooking. Watch this:

Cooking Writing is a fairly straightforward process for me. I have the idea for a dish book and make a few notes. Those notes become a sort of recipe outline, inasmuch as I use a recipe an outline, for the food story I’m making writing. Over time, I add ingredients ideas here and there, imagine a few flavors scenes that anchor the dish plot, and cook it put it all in order. Finally, I taste read the food book myself. If I don’t like it, I adjust it a little. When I’m happy with my creation, I give it to my family editors, so they can tell me what they like and don’t like about the dish book, and tell me what else it needs. Once it’s just right, I share it with a few beta tasters readers who tell me what they think of it. Then I share the meal book with the world.

Reading a series is just like sitting down to a multi-course meal. The first book gets you started, and gives you a taste for what is to come. By the time you get to dessert, I hope to have sated your hunger for my creation.

So you see, a story and a recipe are really very similar. One stimulates your mind, the other your taste buds. I can stimulate both. I hope you enjoy the book, er, meal. Well, whatever I make you, I know you will enjoy it.

4 comments:

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  2. This post had me check your location to see if I could pop by for dinner some time. It was an invitation, right? Can't take it back now. Coming by if I'm in the area. ☺

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    1. My friends are always welcome. Just wear loose pants.

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    2. I hope I find myself in the area!

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