I’m a big fan of both, but only one gives me anxiety, which would be our dear friend writing. And so when I’m stressing out and wanting to quit I remind myself of how related they truly are.
When you are cooking a dish you think about what you want to make (idea), then you go to the cupboard or store and get the ingredients (characters, settings, basic plot), after that you follow a recipe (outline, beat sheet) and when it’s done you cook/eat it (publish). Sometimes it’s good, other times it’s inedible, but no matter what you know you’re going to be eating again in a few hours so you have to move on.
I’m sure I read this somewhere along the way and I wish I could credit the originator of this theory. Either way, it’s a very comforting analogy and one that gets me through a lot of tough spots. I love to cook, I do it almost every night for dinner and it calms me down after a long day of writing. Which makes it all the more ironic I suppose that I find the two tasks so similar. Cooking rarely stresses me out, so I look forward to the day when I can treat the two tasks equally.
Happy writing and happy eating 😉
