What do cooking and writing have in common?

There are different types of cooks. The improvisers, the recipe-lovers, the just-throwing-things-in-the-pan-cooks, the I-prefer-takeaway-cooks, the burned-pan-cooks, the exploded kitchen-cooks.

In the same way, you have different kinds of writers. You could talk about Beethovian – writers who will change and adapt their writing while writing or Mozartian – writers that start with a structure and then focus on the writing which results in a text that is almost finished.

What do cooking and writing have to do with each other?

The process of cooking can be differentiated into three phases, regardless of what kind of cook you are.

Phase 1 Preparation

What are you doing at this stage? You will figure out who you are going to cook for, you will start looking for a recipe, do the shopping, get all the ingredients, perhaps start cutting the vegetables, marinate maybe, in short, make sure you are ready to cook.

Phase 2 Cooking

Now the cooking has started: pans are on the fire, ingredients are added at the right time and finally, you will enjoy the end result.

Phase 3 Cleaning up

After all the cooking the kitchen needs to be tidied up again so you can finally make your cup of tea and relax.

Writing phases

The same phases can be identified in the writing process: preparation, actual writing and editing.

By dividing the writing process into these phases and using the different tools per phase accordingly, like free writing, clarifying your thoughts or structured editing you will gradually become an effective and efficient writer. Then you will succeed in a well-written article in no time. Your writing will be brought to another level, by knowing how the process works and really using it to your advantage, you will make the difference between a delicious dinner or a so so meal,

Would you like to find out more about the writing process? Have more fun writing and make sure your articles will be published? Have a look under the heading Activities or contact me. Then we will figure out what you need to become a better writer.