Write to Make Readers Drool: Stock the Pantry

No less than a half dozen times in the past two weeks I have gone to the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer when I was hungry, only to discover I didn’t have the ingredients to make one meal from scratch — at least not one I found appealing.

Why do I find myself in this predicament over and over? I’m glad there are healthier quick fixes today. However, they are just not the same as having the necessary supplies to make what strikes my fancy at any given time. Ah! The lack of forethought and planning strikes my stomach again.

Honest writing, though, has no quick fixes for a lack of idea ingredients. Without a well-stocked pantry and fridge, we end up writing forced, anemic, unappealing, and malnourishing meals, ones that lack any indication of passion from us.

As an English teacher and writing coach, I know beginning a piece of creative fiction or nonfiction presents the most staggering challenge for younger writers. In fact, it’s no piece of cake — if you happen to have the ingredients for cake — for experienced writers, either, especially once one project is finished and the next day they face planning the next “meal.”

To stock the mind and soul with an abundance of ingredients, writers must keep a journal. Journaling may be accomplished in a variety of ways and in a huge assortment of…