Or just make me feel more intimidated? I've got Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob on my bedside table right now; so far, in the past two days, I've managed to get through about as many pages before I fall asleep. (No, wait, I got through half a chapter today over lunch. SCORE!) It has nothing to do with the content, which has been fascinating so far. It's all about me reading at 11:56 pm after the usual puttering around doing far less interesting tasks and not really being satisfied by any of it.
Back to the book. I'm getting a kick out of reading the perspectives of other wine and food writers, especially on how they see themselves and their own style (lots of self-deprecation and sarcasm in that bunch - I should fit right in.) I also feel like I'm entering a ridiculously saturated market that is based solely on subjective opinion, where several celebrated and feared critics already dominate culinary culture. What have I got to offer that's different? (Here's where strategic communications skills would come in handy. Good thing I'm taking a course to learn some.)
One of the writing exercises in Write for Food totally boggles my mind: write about your favourite food, only DON'T use any adjectives or adverbs. Say WHAT? Um, have you READ my blog? Adjective-ing is second to breathing for me. Why don't I saw off my writing hand while I'm at it??
Once the hyperventilation wears off, I might actually sit down and give that one a try. Until then, the keyboard (and the canvas, the sketchbook, the camera) are collecting dust, waiting for me to get over this latest rut of creative repression.
PS - Take a look at how many parentheses I used there. Yikes.
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