What Do Baking And Writing Have In Common?

Happy Monday! I generally only blog twice a month, but I was inspired last night after baking a Dutch apple bread. 🙂 ❤

As you are well aware, writing is my oldest passion. One of my other great loves is food and the preparation of food. I just love cooking and baking. (Baking particularly lets me play with one of my favorite things– chocolate!) I post recipes compulsively on Facebook and stare longingly at high quality cookware. I am an addict.

So what on earth does food preparation have in common with writing? For me, quite a bit, I have found.

Timing

As we have to take time into consideration with baking, so do we with writing.  When baking, you need time to gather the ingredients and get your baking area set up (prep time) as well as actual bake time. When writing a novel, you must consider your “prep time” as well as your “bake time”. You must first gather all of your “ingredients” — writing materials, your outline, inspiration, and any research you must do before setting to work. You should certainly figure your prep time into the entire process.

You also must observe the bake time. You cannot remove a cake from the oven too quickly nor can you leave it in too long.  It will either be under-done or burnt. The same is true for a story. You cannot hurry it along because it will seem flat, rushed or full of errors–things the keen eyes of your readers will certainly catch and not appreciate. You also cannot drag the story out by adding too many extraneous details or scenes or allow it to molder inside of you and die.

Ingredients

All ingredients must be gradually added together to form a delectable (or hopefully delectable) creation. Most recipes give specific instructions as to when and how the ingredients are to be combined. First, last, creamed, beaten, stirred, sifted, mixed, folded, etc. A good story, like a good cake, is a composition of many ingredients — plot, characters, theme, and word usage to name the most important ones. They must blend well together and each will unfold and develop in a certain order and in their own good time. Each genre also requires a special touch or effect. Just as there are all sorts of cooks and bakers, there are writers who excel at each genre.

Trial and Error

Not all kitchen experiments are successful. Sometimes you follow an inferior recipe and sometimes you make a mistake or several that destroy the food. Whatever the reason, we all fail sometimes and we can all learn from our failures.  Being a writer is the same as being a baker. Sometimes your writing is delicious and close to perfect. Other times, it falls flat. Sometimes it’s a success but does not get the attention it deserves. That’s okay.  You always have tomorrow to go back to the kitchen or to your writing office and begin anew.

Bon Appetit and have a wonderful week! ❤