Stir the pot; in this case the plot, and you’ll see how alike writing and cooking can be.
Whether you’re writing a novella, (fast food), a novel, (a five-course dinner), or a short story, (preparing a snack), the success of your preparation depends upon mastering the tools of the trade.
Need to perfect a paragraph? Slice and dice to shorten sentences and speed the action.
Introduce suspense? Use a rolling boil.
Brown and simmer to smooth and lengthen a passage and to bring your reader’s heart rate back in rhythm.
Determine your pacing by flash-freezing, nuking in a microwave, or constantly stirring with a long wooden spoon.
Remember that your protagonist has to suffer, so turn up the heat and roast them or slow cook them.
Dealing with your villain offers the most options. Fry them, stew them in their own juice, lay them out with a rolling-pin, grill them or mash them. Alternately, you can prolong their just desserts in an all-day crock pot.
Bake or fricassee, it’s your choice. Just make sure you serve up a delectable morsel each time that will keep your guests coming back for more.
So next time you sit down to write, think about what your readers like and ask, “Can I take your order?”
See you next time on August 22nd.
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Nineteen-year-old Helene languishes in a squalid French prison tormented by questions she cannot answer. Why was she arrested? Who could have made a wrongful accusation against her? And if so, why?
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Once in a while you come across a book, that after reading it, makes you pause and think, even marvel because you’ve encountered life from an entirely new perspective. Alison Green Myers’, debut novel, A Bird Will Soar, is such a book.
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Winter.
Lifeless, asleep, dead.
All is gone. Lost.
Until the last frost melts away. -
As the year draws to an end, preparing to close its final chapter, I think of the beach.
It might seem perfectly normal to those of you living in sunny climates, or to snow bunnies hastening away from the cold. But to those of us in areas that have already seen our first snow, it might sound strange.
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Memories swirl in the air around my head.
Nothing Found
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I love it! Wonderful advice. Thanks for the meal.
Thank you, Jenny. I always look for links and connections in things. This was a fun one to write.