Cooking Up a Story

   Today as I bustle around the kitchen, I’m surrounded by some of my favorite aromas, vanilla, brown sugar, lemon, and yeast. Those aromas carry me back and I reflect on many hours spent with Mom, Grandma, and Granny in their kitchens, watching, absorbing, learning. Learning to bake, to create, to experiment, and to adjust as needed.

   You see, neither of those women, so instrumental in my domestic education, practiced exact measurement. I’m pretty sure their measuring cups were being used to root plant cuttings or something. They used a dab of this, a scoop of that, a handful of something else. And it was delicious, without fail. They taught me to stir, observe, sample, and add a bit more of something to alter the consistency, flavor, etc. I was a Home Economics teacher’s nightmare, I’m sure.

   For the most part, I still cook that way, especially on favorite dishes I’ve made countless times. I’m pretty sure I could make chocolate chip cookies in my sleep with just a bowl and a spoon. But for something new, I need to follow a recipe. I have to measure, double check, set a timer.

   It hit me today just how much my cooking has in common with my writing. Many times, I write by feel, just like I make a pie. A dab of this, stir in some of that, if it doesn’t feel right, add some more of something. Taa-daa! A short story. A poem.

   Being instructed to create an outline, set a theme, put a plot-point in exactly a certain place in the story, and follow pre-determined steps makes my eyes want to cross. It’s very similar to the feeling I got trying to follow a recipe for brownies. Where’s the fun?

   But the more I learn about writing, the more I understand the need for that recipe, that road-map. For a short story or a poem, writing by feel just works for me. I doubt if I’ll ever change. But a longer work, for example a novel-length piece, I’m going to have to follow a recipe. I’ll need to break out the measuring cups, the timer, the cookbook. It's going to be work.

   Happy cooking, and happy writing. I hope all your recipes turn out great!