Writing Exercise Inspired by Cupcake Wars

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Of all the reality TV shows to get addicted to, I’ve discovered I like Cupcake Wars(1). In fact, I like it SO much, I have turned into a cupcake snob myself. No longer are plain chocolate or vanilla cupcakes acceptable. Oh no… Even when utilizing store-bought frosting(2), I’m forced to sift cinnamon and add a garnish.

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I rather like the themes they explore, too. Science! Tim Burton! SDCC! Roller Derby! My next mission is to make filled cupcakes, only they’ll likely be cherry-almond a la these Dexter babies from Have You Nerd. I have the butcher knives, already(3).

There’s another side effect of watching Cupcake Wars, however, and that is falling in love with how the cupcakes are described. “It’s a raspberry-mint cupcake topped with a chocolate-hazelnut buttercream and garnished with a raspberry-shaped marzipan and mint leaves.” It reminds me why I love to read about food in the first place!

I’m not sure if you’re inspired just yet, but I am! Food can bring out a fantastic detail in worldbuilding, as feasts have a lot of allegorical and visual impact. The very first descriptions I remember were from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe—Turkish Delight–and the tea party/cakes from Alice in Wonderland. Why are these foods so memorable? What about their description entices us?

I find that writing about food is a great exercise in highlighting how detail can make something more enticing to the reader. Is it a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting? Or is it a homemade chocolate cupcake made with organic eggs, milk off the farm, and cocoa beans from Brazil, topped with milk chocolate ganache? Which one would you be more likely to eat? To practice writing about food, I find that picking a specific type of food–in this case, cupcakes–and then finding a picture to describe it is a fantastic method to facilitate visualization.

Here’s a picture of a cupcake featured on Cupcake Wars.

Double Shot Mocha Lattee Cupcake

How would you describe this cupcake? What ingredients do you think are in this chocolate confection? After you’re done, compare how you’ve imaged this cupcake with the original recipe.

(1) Beware the auto-play. Sigh.
(2) See also: because I was cleaning while baking, and couldn’t multi-task without sprouting extra arms. Or, alternatively,
(3) Fondant is “teh evil”, and I have yet to unlock its mysteries.

    Mood: Let bachelorette weekend begin!
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Let there be coffee.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Not enough.
    In My Ears: Nameless dubstep beats.
    Game Last Played: Ugh. This jewel-addicting monstrosity.
    Book Last Read: The Silmarillion by Tolkien
    Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Ghost in the Shell
    Latest Artistic Project: Thinking about it.
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Gods, Memes, and Monsters
    Latest Game Release: Dread Names, Red List for Vampire: the Masquerade and Ghosts in the Black for the Firefly RPG.
    Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update and My Departure from the Conan RPG.


September 23, 2015
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Day One: My Pescatarian Adventures

sushiIt’s no secret that I’m a big fan of sushi, but I’m also a fan of eating right. So I decided over the weekend to start on a 30-day excursion that I call “My Pescatarian Adventures.” Most vegetable-based (with the occasional sushi goodness) this is a shift for me from the chicken/carb/vegetable means I’ve been eating. I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve learned. For those of you who aren’t interested in these adventures, I’m going to start off each post with “Day + Number” so you can skip on by if you’re not up to reading these. I’ll still keep posting about writing; this is something “new.”

For everyone else? Here’s my summary of Day One.

Most Restaurants Suck

My restrictions are: no sugar (or corn syrup) and no meat, except for fish. Little caffeine and no “straight-up” dairy. Human-size portions preferred.

Going out to eat is an exercise in insanity, because it is virtually impossible to find edible menu items with those restrictions. For beverages, I pretty much have to stick to water. Few places offer alternate, caffeine-free and no sugar beverages (even the sushi places), so water it is.

We went to a local restaurant, and there were only two things on the menu that would be considered vegetarian. For fish options, there were only dinner items, so I was out-of-luck on that front.

I almost postponed the start of my adventures due to a lack of choices. (Thank heavens for friendly reminders.) While I wasn’t unhappy with my choice, it seems like eating out might be a chore.

Why do Grocery Stores Keep Veggies Wet?

Built a menu list from a bunch of recipes we had on hand and went grocery shopping to support my adventures. That part was pretty easy, but the veggie shopping was disturbing.

While my grocery bill was less than what we normally spend, there are a lot of “shower sprays” that continually wet down the vegetables making them “look” fresh. I have a few veggie storage containers I got from Tupperware that work really well to store veggies over the long-term, but I’ve had a hard time using up the veggies before they go bad. Is the constant watering the cause?

This might mean more frequent grocery shopping just for vegetables. We’ll see how that shakes out.

On to Day Two…

June 15, 2009
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Believe it or Not, Diet and Exercise Helps Me Write

One of the hardest things to manage when you’re a writer (or sit on your butt in any job for that matter) is the whole concept of working out and eating right. It’s really hard for all of us because not only do we have responsibilities but it’s hard to visualize what benefits we might get out of it when our time is so precious to us.

I’m really not unlike anyone else; I have commitments and things that I’m responsible for. Usually, it’s not the workload that bogs me down, it’s the task and time management that does. When things throw my schedule out of whack, work-outs have been the first thing to go. Probably sounds like everyone else.

I have a lot of long-term goals, one of which is to participate in a marathon. Now, I’m nowhere near that kind of athletic level currently. Just to participate in an hour-long class I’m dedicated two hours a night to get there, take the class, and recoup. When I think about what that means for my evenings, at first glance it just seems like a major pain-in-the-butt. Fortunately, I’ve noticed that it’s helping me write.

Lately I’ve had a lot more energy and my moods have been more even (believe it or not). I know, I know a miracle for any writer because really, without some tiny amount of angst how can we write three-dimensional characters? For me, I’m channeling stagnation from sitting all day to a class or machine, and my creativity right now is huge. Sunlight, working out, and cutting down on the bane of my existence (cheesy nachos…) are all contributing factors to wicked cool story ideas, awesome characters, and what feels like an inner glow.

I know it’s really easy for people to sound preachy with the workouts and the gym classes, and believe me that’s not what I’m trying to do here. I have multiple reasons for pumping iron (so to speak) but I’m on such a huge high right now I just had to share it.

Should be back to posting more regularly next week, thanks for staying tuned. I’ve also been really addicted to the idea of reorganizing lately, and I’ll throw some ideas your way about some books and free tools that have helped me. Have an awesome weekend!!! 😀

May 15, 2008
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