By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
I like to cook and bake almost as much as I love writing. Spending time in the kitchen is relaxing, satisfying, and hopefully the results are tasty. I’ve discovered my passion for writing has a lot in common with food prep. Cooking makes me a better writer.
Look at the following comparisons; I think you’ll understand what I mean.
Decide on a Recipe
When the mood strikes, I must decide what to cook. Similarly, I must choose a storyline. Contemporary romantic suspense is my preferred genre, and my writing recipe also needs an intriguing storyline with courageous characters.
The Right Ingredients
For a taste treat to win over others, decisions are in order. Who are my characters? What is their problem? Where is my story set?
Measure Precisely
Story needs a balance of action and narrative woven with character emotions. Those emotions transfer to a reader’s experience. Growth and change happen when the character’s method of handling stress leads to critical errors and new measures of problem-solving flow fresh. How many mistakes will my character face? Can the reader see measurable growth?
Cut and Dice
Editing is the part of story writing where scenes are cut and diced. Making a story stronger means slashing weak plot points. Using strong verbs and powerful nouns establishes a meatier story than sliding in adjectives and adverbs. Is the dialogue in character? Is the setting antagonistic, so the character is forced to struggle? Where can I condense a sentence or phrase to a single word?
Don’t be Afraid to Vary a Recipe
Story is king. Nothing reigns over story. While a writer follows rules and guidelines taught by professionals in the industry, sometimes those same principles need to be tweaked. Try something new. Does it work?
Stir Thoroughly
Quality writing means shaking up my character’s comfort zone. Force them to step into the unknown and forbidden. Throw in an ingredient midway that forever changes the story. Get your characters dirty. Make them smile, cry, angry, sad, and lonely. Always create the unpredictable.
Bake
Every story needs time to bake. When I walk away from my computer and refuse to open the file (oven door) for a specific time, the result is a fresh concept, and I can tell if it’s finished or needs a little more time.
Serve
A writer never knows how readers will respond to a story. I can only work diligently and hope the book will be delicious, satisfying, and leave the reader wanting for more.
Are you ready to cook up a story?
Comments 25
Thanks for the mind and mood nourishent, DiAnne. I too, love to cook, and create recipes, like I do writing. I recently, in my slow cooker, created a soup which my guest enjoyed. It tasted good. At the moment, I am trying to look over: edit: add, change spice up and maybe delete some something. Nothing can deter a good cook, and neither should anything, a (wannabe good) writer.
Thank you, Frances. You are a good cook and a good writer!
The timing of your post is impeccable, Diane! I was just working on the flyers last night for our next IWA! workshop with Janice who also likes to bake and write, and I was reflecting on how both activities require an ability to create something artistic and satisfying from basic elemental ingredients. I also remember back to my college days when these two worlds meshed even more inextricably in one of my French assignments; I wrote out a comic strip in which all the characters were vegetables. Veggies have SO much personality! 🙂
Diana,what fun! I’d love to see your cartoon! And Janice is amazing.
DiAnn,
I love baking and never thought of how following a recipe could relate to writing a story. I’m a visual learner. The next time I’m stumped on a few pages I’m writing, I’ll get out my mixer and ingredients to creat something sweet. 😊
BTW: Thank you for sharing your blog with us. You are truly following His recipe for kindness.
Terry, thank you for your kind words. So glad you enjoyed the blog post!
Great comparison!
Your books are among my very favorites ! Keep cooking up great recipes!
Thank you, Paula! Glad you are enjoying my books.
Thanks, Jessie! I had a lot of fun writing it.
Love this.
Thank you! Helps when I love to cook, bake, and write!
I AM A READER, 92 YRS OLD. I AM NOT A WRITER BUT STARTED LIFE WITH THAT IN MIND.I STILL WAKE UP WITH A STORY IN MY HEAD. I AM NOT A COOK BUT MAKE GOOD FOOD OUT OF LEFTOVERS. MY IDEA IS YOU CAN MAKE A HAPPY LIFE OUT OF THIS AND THAT.
Jean, I love your wisdom. Yes! We can make a purposeful life out of this and that. Thank you!
I love this! This spring, I’ll be cooking up three new stories. They are percolating right now as I’m getting ready to launch a new series. Well done!
Thanks Carmen, I’m looking forward to those ideas percolating into stories.
I simply love your books! Today I will begin reading what I believe may be the last book of yours to access in my local library. That makes me sad, but knowing how much I have enjoyed each one, it makes me glad. Thank you all your work and love for our Lord thst blossoms in every word.
Thank you, Nancy! I love writing stories that show how God works in our lives when we least expect it.
The process to cut and dice does make cooking better by not infusing food with pieces that are too big. The same can apply to writing. Cut and dice are appropriate words for editing and sometimes that is how it feels when we see other people’s comments come back to us. But our words are better because after editing the flow is smoother and “goes down better.” Thanks for this creative comparison from the kitchen to benefit our work.
Thanks, Barbara, lots of wisdom in your response. I should print and frame it! Thanks.
Great parallels, DiAnn. Thanks for all you do, in and outside of the kitchen. 🙂
Bob. that’s funny – ’cause I do love to cook, bake, and write.
DiAnn! What a wonderful meal! I even discovered some of your secret ingredients. Creativity, infused with a mixture of spice and attention, gives your readers more than what is anticipated. Every sumptuous offering is such a treat we must go back for seconds.
Dawn, what a fabulous response. Your comment should be a meme! Thank you.
As a writer who also loves to cook/bake, I love this post so much! Excellent analogies. 🙂
Jessie, we have kindred hearts! We could cook up a great library of stories.