I Love the Way You Cook

I recently had breakfast at a bistro in Lexington, Kentucky, and was impressed by the fact that the cook prepared and served my food in a distinctively bistro manner. I ordered an item called the Bistro Breakfast Sandwich. Out came a sandwich of scrambled egg and bacon covered with a light hollandaise sauce and served on a grilled French knot bun. It was accompanied by a miniature bowl of a light-green vegetable which I took for pale steamed broccoli until I tasted it. Its flavor was quite unlike broccoli, but I couldn’t identify it until my daughter said, “If you’re not going to eat that mashed avocado, I’d like to have it.” The bistro chef had served me a breakfast sandwich with panache.

If I had walked down the street to a MacDonald’s, I could have ordered my usual Mickey D’s breakfast: a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. I would have gotten a compact wax-paper bundle with a standard-sized biscuit, scrambled egg, and two strips of bacon but no condiment or fancy side dish. I’m sure I have eaten hundreds of of those biscuits in my lifetime, from MacDonald’s restaurants throughout the United States and Canada. The food always looks and tastes the same, no surprises. That’s why I keep going back.

Then there’s the Cracker Barrel breakfast. Like MacDonald’s, their menu items are a standard size and shape, but they come with some extras that lend a homespun flair to the experience. Those little bottles of maple syrup—yum! Smoke-cured bacon and ham—yes! A roaring fire in the blackened fireplace—seat me near that, please! The food will be satisfying, but the atmosphere will be even more so. The smell of wood smoke and fresh coffee will stay with me through the morning, reminding me of my home in East Tennessee.

Our writing has distinctive features, too. It doesn’t simply convey our story line. It puts our readers in a time and place of our choosing, with a panache that lingers in memory long after the particulars of our plot have been forgotten. Good writing nourishes the souls of our readers, so let’s give careful attention to how we prepare what we serve.

Fire up the stove. Blend the ingredients that make a story distinctively yours. Plate it with a flair that draws us back to your place when we’re hungry for more.

Now where’s that maple syrup?


Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth and daughter Heather.

Flavoring—The Difference Word Choice Can Make

Flowery prose fell out of favor long ago; it's way too sweet. And what are commonly called ten-dollar words are often inadvisable; they're way too heavy. Attempting to capture the attention of readers today with either ploy is more likely to yank them from a story before it’s hardly begun.

Ensuring word choices have enough flavor, however, makes sense. And one more round of self-editing to add more flavor to words or phrases more bland than they need to be can do the trick. 

Does Anise give her seat to an elderly woman on the bus? Maybe she can relinquish the space instead, if she'd been inclined to hold on to it at first.

Does Dunkin’s date walk across a room when she spots him waiting for her? Perhaps she glides or sashays—depending on her grace or attitude, of course.

Do the children in the church choir know the words of their song? Maybe they’ve memorized the lyrics.

Did the boss tell everyone at the office he was retiring? Or did he announce his intention?

Those alternative words and phrases still might not be the best choices, but you get the point.

Here’s an exercise for you: Open the book you’re currently reading and peruse the first few paragraphs. Do any words or phrases seem too bland or downright flat to you than necessary? If so, what words or phrases would you substitute?

This idea is not meant to criticize any author, and often the more straightforward and simple word choice is best. But sometimes a little more flavoring in the words chosen can push a book’s interest factor up a notch, right from the beginning.

Now, what word or phrase substitutions would you suggest for what I just wrote? Go ahead. Tell us. I won’t be offended!

Jean Kavich Bloom is a freelance editor and writer for Christian publishers and ministries 

(Bloom in Words Editorial Services), with thirty years of experience in the book publishing world. Her personal blog is Bloom in Words too, where she sometimes posts articles about the writing life. She is also a regular contributor to The Glorious Table, a blog for women of all ages. Her published books are Bible Promises for God's Precious Princess and Bible Promises for God's Treasured Boy. She and her husband, Cal, have three children (plus two who married in) and five grandchildren, with foster grandchildren in their lives on a regular basis.

photo credit: www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=126442&picture=cooking-spices