5 Ways Writing is Like Cooking

Burnt toast tops my list for one of the most foul smells in the entire world.  I'm sure we've all burned our fair share and screwed up things more than just toast in the kitchen.  The smell got me thinking, mostly about burnt toast, but also how writing can often times remind me of cooking.  Some of the basic principals in cooking are applicable to writing, especially if you are into the whole "let's make a food analogy because I'm hungry" genre of writing.  Well I sure as heck am!  Kidding aside, there are some times that I feel much of what I have learned in cooking can apply to my work as a writer.  So without further flan--er, flare, here  are Five Ways Writing is Like Cooking:


Don't Be Afraid to Get Dirty

One of the first things I had to learn about cooking was that I was going to get dirty in the process.  Flour would be everywhere; dishes would pile up; and my hands were likely to get everything from frosting to chicken goop/blood on them.  It was a hard fact to face.  Well, this happens in writing too.  Sometimes you might have to work in circumstances that are not ideal, not what you want, and not what you expect.  You can't always be sipping soda and writing away on your laptop in some food joint.  You won't always get to have that afternoon to yourself where you just ponder what to do next with your characters.  You won't always be "feeling up to" doing what needs to be done.  Much like cooking, you've got to get in and do the sometimes dirty work of writing when you are not comfortable.  Sometimes writing like is baking fresh cookies (right from the pre-made pack, all nice and easy like); but other times it means you have a long afternoon ahead of you just to get one thing done.  You have to also be ready to pull out a notepad and write ideas, character arcs, and dialogue on the fly.  If an idea sounds like it would add zest to a story, but you aren't in your comfort zone--too bad, you've got to pull out that pad and write.  It may look messy, you may have a lot more editing to do than if you were working on a computer, but it is just a part of the process.


Try New Flavors

No matter how appealing a recipe might sound, no matter how easy it might seem; sometimes it is hard to make yourself try something new in the kitchen.  Similarly, sometimes you might have an idea for a character, plot arc, or story direction that sounds appealing, but will likely lead you in a direction you aren't entirely sure you want to go.  Now, to be true, sometimes you might throw out an idea which immediately sounds like the liver and onions equivalent in the writing world.  Nice for some, but just not for you.  However, you might get something that sounds like a complicated seafood recipe.  You aren't sure if the "flavor" or idea will really pan out.  It might be an idea that you end up liking and want to follow through, but are not sure if you have the "umph" to follow it through.  Whatever the case, don't be afraid to take a risk and try something new.  In order for your story to be different, to have those things that set it apart; you need to be ready to try out some things which you may not be used to.


Don't Indulge in Too Much Junk Food 

Okay, so this might seem like a stretch when it comes to the analogy game, but hear me out.  There are some characters and scenes that are like the best junk food on the planet.  Much like a bag of your favorite chips, sometimes characters and scenes come along and you just want to let loose and keep going back for more.  Does this character's scene advance the story or move the plot or grow him?  Nope, and who cares!  More of this please!  Who wouldn't want the Snape to keep insulting Harry for pages on end?  What's a few more arrows and battering rams at Helm's Deep?  And what about how in Game of Thrones...well, you get the point.  Scenes and characters you love to write can be fun, but if you spend too much time with them, you fatten up the story without adding anything of benefit.  I grant you I would have loved it if the Riddle Game from The Hobbit would have kept going, but I also know that if it went on too long it would have been the most dull scene in the book instead of the one of the most interesting ones.  Cut yourself off before you have a mess to work off in editing.  Speaking of which...


Clean Up When Done 

Yep, when all the work is done, and the food is made, who gets to clean up the mess left behind?  That's right, you do.  Same principal applies here.  Edits...*sigh*  Yes, one of the words we as writers most hate to hear about.  Editing and cleaning up after cooking just seem to go hand in hand, don't they?  You know the end product is, and will be something good.  You've already put in so much effort to produce something awesome, and then you realize there is still more work to do, and it is a whole lot less fun than the process of actually making something original.  "But what if I just order a pizza?  Won't clean up be a snap?  Ha!  I've picked apart your analogy in one fell swoop!"  You know what I say to that?  "Stop trying to stall and act all clever!  Get back to editing!"


Sometimes You Spend All Day Making a Mistake

The last part of this analogy might be the hardest for you to hear.  I joked about ordering out for pizza in the last point, but I've had to do just that before.  I have had cooking mistakes that I realized as I was finishing up had just went completely sideways and tasted awful.  Along those lines, you can write for hours and hours, spend a whole day working on something...only to churn out something in the end you realize is not just average or passable, but is like that burnt toast I told you about in the beginning.  Sometimes you have to throw out all your hard work and start from scratch or go with something basic that will suit the needs of what you are writing.  Sometimes you put in a whole lot of effort crafting a dish, or a scene, and have zilch to show at the end.  If only writing were as easy as getting that pizza.  "I'd like an order of plot please, heavy on the character development with a side of bread sticks."  (Because you should always get a side of bread sticks with anything.)  Now, this isn't to say that you should be afraid to start over or that backtracking doesn't happen.  Sometimes I've arrived at the end of a chapter and realized that everything prior to the last sentence just won't work at all.  But I started over because I had to. Or I chopped out what wasn't working and put something simple, yet sustaining in it's place.  Sometimes I suspect we wish we could just leave that hole in the story just as much as we wish we could skip a meal.  But in the end something has to be done.


As you might be able to tell, I love and hate cooking. Much in the same way I love and hate writing at times.  However, as much as I need food, I need to keep on writing.  I know at times analogies like the one I have written here can seem silly, or over-wrought, but I hope it has helped you.  I suspect that for both of us writing, much like food, is a sustaining and nourishing thing.  We need it in our lives to keep us going.

Well, time for a snack.

And a bit of writing, of course.