It struck me today, as I was sharing ideas with an Author regarding their current work in progress, that developing a good story is very much like making bread. A baker starts, essentially, with flour, moisture, and yeast. It is a very sticky, nearly unmanageable, mess. A writer’s sticky mess begins with a location, characters, and a catalyst. Like seasoning, a jumble of ideas, emotions, and most importantly, portions of the Author’s own dreams augment the foundation of his story, adding flavor and interest. Kneading a recipe is crucial, patient hands folding, turn, pull, fold, turn, pull. As the dough is worked, it becomes smoother, and most appreciably, less sticky. In the rearranging, the baker has created structure (bakers will know this as gluten). Honing her story is very similar for our writer. As she works, the story becomes more cohesive, flows better, and has fewer sticky points. The world and people, once just a dream in the writer’s mind, take shape. Become real. They now have framework in which to face the coming changing point in their lives. A baker often allows dough to rest, or proof, before baking. What an appropriate name for the beta and editing process: proofing. Finally, publishing. The bread is put in the oven, setting the protein rich gluten, essentially locking the structure of the loaf. If our dough has been properly worked the result is strong enough to hold your topping of choice, and evenly aerated so that there are no large holes for raspberry jam to dribble through. A reader can forget they are in a story, their mind accepting the premise as fact, and the characters as friend, foe, or a combination of both. What are you kneading today?
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 21:00:03 +0000
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