Sunday, March 19, 2023

Fun Similarities Between Writers and Cooks


by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

The writing conference schedule for 2023 is going strong. Some of them have already happened. Writers have registered and secured their hotel rooms and travel plans for those to come. Many choices of writing conferences flood the internet, and there are great ones to choose from. 

Beautiful produce is delivered to grocery stores as well as farmers’ markets throughout the area have planned their opening date for spring. The colors and smells are mesmerizing. The choices abound. As a classically-trained-French cook, the joy I get walking through the bounty is probably like the joy my hubby gets as he walks through a chocolate shop! Both of us take our time. We imagine the taste and try to decide what we’ll buy. And buy, we will. Share we must. 

What does food have to do with writing? 

The cook of the home has many choices about what he or she will cook. Cooks have an abundance of food items to create special meals to be shared with others. Like cooks, we writers have many choices to make as well:
  • What topic will we write about?
  • Will we write fiction or nonfiction?
  • Will we try to be published traditionally or independently?
  • Will we co-write?

Like perusing through the markets and gathering ideas of how to use the various foods which surround us, writers watch and listen to people and actions around us to gather ideas. We become like sponges absorbing the activities and conversations around us. 

As a cook mulls over the recipe choices, writers mull over how they will share the thoughts whirling through their minds:
  • Will it be a blog post?
  • Will it be a devotional?
  • Will it be a magazine article?
  • Will it be part of a book?

Once the recipe, or writing piece, has been chosen, it’s time to move to the next step. The prepping or in cooking terms, mise en place (everything in place) is next and necessary in both scenarios. A cook gathers all the ingredients ready to be added at the right time. Writers do their research and place it together to be used when needed.

The cook’s dish has been prepped—now it’s time to let it sit and simmer. The first draft has been composed, time to let the words simmer just like the ingredients of the food; both need to work and take time to have the perfect taste intended. 

We know that foods should have a good taste, but can words do the same? I believe so. I think a ripe slice of summer watermelon has a good taste and takes me to a happy place. Kind words can do the same thing through encouragement to your soul. But unkind words can leave a bitterness similar to a piece of unsweet-dark chocolate while it dissolves on your tongue. Words of anger are much like a spicy hot pepper—painful. Both leave a bad memory in your mind. 

But there is another type of taste connected to words, and that is through spiritual food:

Taste and see that the Lord is good; Psalm 34:8a NIV

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35 NIV

As writers, are we offering up words that direct people to the best taste ever? Do our words point to the Bread that gives life to all who accept it? 

The next time we go through a market with all the colorful produce, think about the many ways Jesus can be shared through our words. How boring would the market be if it had row upon row of small red tomatoes. Just like each and every piece of produce we pick up is different and unique in its formation and color, the words we choose can be used to draw someone closer to God. 

Will you join me in sharing the abundance and wonderful taste of Jesus to those around us through our written words?

TWEETABLE

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and give them The Reason to smile. She’s gone from down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life as she believes there’s always a giggle wanting to come out! 

When not writing Rom-Com, she’s The Launch Team Geek helping authors launch their books and also a Virtual Assistant for a couple best-selling authors. Her work was published in a Divine Moments Compilation Book—Cool-inary Moments. She’s also the Social Media Manager for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Founding President and current Vice-President of ACFW Upstate SC, and Founding President of Word Weavers Upstate SC. She’s a writing team member for The Write Conversation Blog, Novel Academy, MBT Monday Devotions, The Write Editing and others. Connect with Tammy at HTTPS://WWW.TAMMYKARASEK.COM.

7 comments:

  1. Tammy,

    Thank you for this fun comparison between cooks and writers--and your encouragement to share our abundance of words about Jesus with the world around us.

    Terry
    author of Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition)

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  2. I’m an amateur cook and writer. Needless to say, I love this!
    Candyce C

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  3. What a fun and encouraging blog post, Tammy!

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  4. "Do our words point to the Bread that gives life to all who accept it?" Great food for thought, Tammy.

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