The Flavor of a Writer

One of the things I'm committing to this fall/ winter in order to save money is to bring homemade soup to work with me a few days a week for lunch. Depending on how well the soup of choice goes over with my kids it could be from 2-4 days of soup for lunch. I've made it 3 weeks now. White bean curry, split pea, black bean. Next is probably my pumpkin almond. Eventually, I will have a week where I get to bring a hearty stew.

I love my soup. Most of them are pretty simple. They cook a long time, usually in the crock pot, but the prep time is pretty minimal. Soak beans, rinse them, cook them, throw in some spices, a couple potatoes and/or diced tomatoes, and several hours later.... Voila! Like magic you have delicious nutritious soup.

If you eat slowly you can notice how strong flavors mix with more mellow ones. Sweet mixes with spicy. They work together in a collaborative effort, somehow independent of the cook to bring out the best in one another. And when something doesn't work, it is blatantly obvious.

Novel writing is a bit like making that soup or stew. No it isn't always easy. It rarely is. When I'm making a soup, for example, I often use garlic powder. I want to get it cooking fast, and I make short cuts. I know myself enough to know that if I relying on making myself mince my own garlic every time I won't do it, and I'll end up spending money I can't afford at restaurants-- and not necessarily healthy ones. Even with my shortcuts, my soup is usually better. But when there's a special occasion, I take a little more care to use fresher ingredients because it really does make a difference.

The novel is an involved piece of writing, the character development affects the plot. The setting affects the characters. The plot and point-of-view affects the theme. Sometimes it just happens, and it's something the writer never planned. But sometimes it is very deliberate. Sometimes you go through several "garlic powder drafts", before you break down and mince your own garlic. You realize how your spicy parts balance with your mellow parts. You keep things interesting and palatable. You do a few taste tests, you ask others to taste. You read with all your senses, see what makes you fall in love with a character, or long to go somewhere you have only read about in books. You learn, grow and become a better writer.

But you don't have to be a novelist to experience this. It will work in your poetry, in short stories, or to keep yourself writing a variety of different things for a variety of purposes. It all shapes who you are as a writer. It all contributes to your flavor, and keeps them tasting. And it's never the same soup twice.

Gretchen Lee Bourquin is the author of the novel No Sensible People, available in print from Lulu.com and Amazon.com. A preview of the 2nd edition is available as a free download for a limited time via her website.