Several years ago, I discovered a book that changed my writing life. The book was Gayle Brandeis’s Fruitflesh. I read it, forever changing my approach to writing. The fact is that foods can affect what we write and how it’s written. Energy and brainpower correlated to nutrition, but more than that, food has the power to evoke emotion. Taste can inspire the imagination and trigger memories of the past.  Whether what you’re seeking to embrace has passed, or has yet to come, learning what flavors have the power to inspire you is a step in the right (or should I say write?) direction.

Savory Foods

Savory foods enrich the soul.  Salty, spicy and rich, savory foods are almost sensuous in both taste and tactile experience, making them ideal foods for writers looking to connect themselves with a more worldly experience. Savory foods connect us to the part of ourselves seeking fulfillment. Likewise, the savory can connect our characters and situations to an experience more worldly.

• Experiencing Savory: Prepare something savory.  Take in the whole experience of preparing it, taste the ingredients and savor the scents. Focus on the process of making something rich and elegantly flavored.  Enjoy the meal you’ve prepared, think about how the flavors mingle and remember what they tasted like alone. Take this savory experience and design a character with the same elegant characteristics as the meal you’ve prepared.

Comfort Foods

Comfort food bring back our childhoods, they make us think of grandma’s house, they make us cozy when we’re afraid and fulfill us when we’re feeling down.  From macaroni and cheese to chocolate chip cookies, comfort foods connect us with a wholesome experience and eating comfort foods can empower us to get as comfortable with our characters as we are with ourselves.

• Experiencing Comfort: Make a list of your favorite comfort foods and prepare a meal from the list. Spend time remembering why you love these foods, consider how they make you feel, and fall in love all over again.  After the meal, make a list of your character’s favorite comfort foods and how those comfort foods speak to their personality.

Sweet Foods

Who doesn’t love sweets? The fact is that while there are those who prefer a more savory experience, there’re aren’t many of us who would reject a bowl of chocolate ice cream.  Sweet foods connect us to a part of ourselves that love life, they speak to our sense of abandon, and in moderation can be as good for the body as any other food.  Sweet foods exhilarate the taste buds and awaken the mind.

• Experiencing Sweet: Bring a little something sweet to your character’s life.  Bake a batch of cookies for your character.  Decide what their favorite flavor is and why.  While baking them, think about how each ingredient goes together and why they reflect your character.  Characters, like cookies, are more than the sum of their individual parts.

Never pass up the opportunity to experience new tastes and be influenced!