Recipe

I've started at least three different times to start typing here today. The beginnings of ideas are there, but they just aren't ready to live yet. Some days are just like that. They are full of half-baked ideas. What we need is to envision the final cake.

I was reading a newletter recently, where they likened writing to gardening. I don't do any gardening. I don't have a yard and too many things in the yard irritate my allergies. My writing is generally likened to cooking. It isn't that I'm a fantastic cook or anything, but I do enjoy a good recipe. The principles involved in cooking simply transfer to many other areas of life.

We "stew" on a problem. We "simmer" in anger. We let ideas "marinate." I'm sure there are many others. Writing, as I've said so many times, requires a plan, a recipe, if you will.

Ingredients:
1 good idea
3 solid images
1/2 t salt (conjunctions)
1/8 t pepper (adjectives)
metaphors to taste

Trim off excess words. Combine ingredients. Bake until tender and brown. Serve warm.

Yeilds: 1 Poem