Writing without a Recipe by Deborah Lytton - November Theme

Writing fiction is like cooking without a recipe.  My sister is a wonderful cook.  Everything she makes is truly delicious (seriously, just thinking about Thanksgiving at her house makes me hungry).  And whenever I ask her what recipe she used to make a certain dish, she gives me the same answer--she didn't use one.  My sister cooks by instinct.

This is the way I write.  I don't like to follow the rules and add just a pinch of this or a dash of that.  Because I want my writing to have a uniqueness that belongs to me.  If you have ever read any of my posts about outlining, you already know that I don't outline because it limits my creativity.  I also don't like to follow rules.  In my day job, I am a practicing attorney so I have a professional responsibility to follow rules.  This is why I look at writing as an escape, and with that escape, the freedom to break rules.

So if you are like me, and you are a rule-follower by day, I challenge you to break rules in your writing.  Play with fragments, made up words, even mixed metaphors.  See where your creativity takes you.  Maybe you will stir up something delicious!