When I was in elementary school I won a blue ribbon for my peanut butter
blossoms. In high school, I won first prize for my chocolate revel
bars. Yes, I know these are some major bragging rights (not!), but that
isn't why I've continued to bake for all these years. I bake to share my
concoctions with others, and it wasn't until recently that I realized
baking is actually very similar to writing. In both cases you pour your
heart and soul into your creation, and you get to experiment and try new
things. But, it all boils down to sharing your creation - including the
journey. So, today I thought it would be fun to share some baking and
writing life lessons I've learned.
The Mangler: Okay...this
is slightly embarrassing, but I probably hold the world record for
mangling the most meat thermometers in a given month via garbage
disposal mishap (see photo below).
- Lesson learned: Always pay
close attention to detail. Sometimes you get in the habit of doing the
same thing over and over again and something pretty significant can slip
by and wreak havoc.
Up in Smoke: One
day I was baking chocolate chip cookies for my hubby and set down my
Mrs. Field's (Yum!) cookbook on top of the burner, which I didn't
realize was on. The entire thing went up in flames. I was fine, and so
was the rest of the kitchen, but it wasn't until years later that I was
able to find a replacement copy of my favorite cookbook.
- Lesson learned: It's nice to be thoughtful and take care of others, but don't forget to take care of yourself, too.
Shut Up Already: Long
before I wrote Strange Luck, I wrote another novel and showed it to a
zillion people for feedback - friends, fellow writers, forums, family,
editors, you name it. Every time someone suggested a change, I made it. I
eventually re-wrote the story so many times it completely buried my
voice and the original story I had once been so passionate about. I
began to hate the manuscript and made the difficult decision to walk
away from it.
Lesson learned: Be confident and true to
yourself. If it doesn't feel right, it might not be the best decision.
In some cases, this could mean walking away and starting anew, which
isn't always a bad thing. For example, if I hadn't walked away from that
old novel I hated, I wouldn't have gone on to write
Strange Luck.
