Connecting the Dots

Writing and cooking share more traits than one might imagine. At the heart of both forms of expression and creativity lies a formula or a method. Cooking needs ingredients. To make a meal you need different portions of foods, and each food needs many different ingredients. To present the meal you might dress the food up on a china plate, or just throw it into a paper plate or bowl. Likewise, writing takes planning. An article or paper must be designed to serve a purpose. The content of the piece is planned and comprised into parts which are paragraphs. Each paragraph accomplishes a different goal or explains a different point. In this way, writing and cooking are related.

Cooking is writing for the stomach. The body uses the contents of the food for growth. Each ingredient used in a meal is processed by the digestive tract and the value of each is determined an obtained.

Writing is cooking for the mind. The brain uses the contents of the paper for growth. Each word and piece of rhetoric is analyzed by the mind and their validity is challenged and pondered over.