Food Values

[theodosia]

elenabtvs asked me about the 'food values' thing I alluded to in my last post here, when I was talking about qualities to look for in good writing.

I was introduced to the idea by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, who taught a week at Clarion West when I attended. They pointed out that as a basic rule of thumb, good writing will have scenes where characters eat and drink, or talk about eating and drinking, or think about it, or make the obtaining of food and/or drink a major plot point.

It's not a hard and fast rule, there's no requirement that characters must take "time out" of the plot to sit down and have a nosh... but generally, it's integrated into the plot. This is a sign that the writer is thinking about the reality of her characters' lives, slowing the action down enough that they have real lives to consider. This is especially important in literature of the fantastic, because it helps ground the fantastic elements in sensuous detail that the reader can relate to, whether it's Sam longing for some 'taters to fry with his fish, or Harry Potter sitting down for a grand Hogwarts feast.

Even Pirates of the Caribbean found time in a mad-cap relentless plot to have food values -- think about Elizabeth eating in Captain Barbosa's cabin, or Barbosa's obsession with apples and description of his undead state, or the pirates trying to lure the dog with the key by waving a tasty bone, or for that matter, Elizabeth and Jack getting shit-faced on smuggler's rum. These ground the action in ways that subconsciously we can believe, which makes the big leaps of wonder a lot easier to 'believe.'

So, that's food values. Think back to the last two or three good movies you saw or books you read... I bet they were all over them....

Comments

A beautiful concept

[debg.livejournal.com]

It's quite true, because food humanises characters in the way nothing else - including sex, for which food is sometimes a jolly old metaphor - can ever quite do.

Thinking about it, all of my books feature food, early and often. "Eyes in the Fire" starts out with the protagonist coming home to a meal of Lancashire hotpot. We meet Dilly Wren in "Plainsong" on about page three, baking fruit pies and singing with joy because her kitchen smells like warm fruit. In "And Then Put Out The Light", Emily comes to her humongous lifechanging decision on about page five, while talking to waittress and discovering she's ravenously hungry. And in "Weaver"? Food for miles, but also food prep; Penny getting her first intimation of a second ghost on the property as she's kneeling barefoot in a kitchen garden, pulling herbs that are still wet with dew, for an omelet.

Food, well, it just *is*.

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

Love this. Great point.

It's a great way to engage the senses, too, especially in a romantic story.

It took me a long time to notice (duh) but Kellie Matthews practically always has the guys chowing down on something in between all the boinking. :) (Note how gracefully I put that!)

It makes for good romance.

[seainni.livejournal.com]

I was going to disagree with this, but as I began searching for examples, I found I agreed after all. :-)

One can overdo the food. But it occurs to me that along with the need for it pacing and character-wise, food is a world pacing detail: what the characters eat reflects on where they are.

And thinking about where their food comes from and what's available forces one to think about other aspects of the world as well.

[seainni.livejournal.com]

(Of course, my own characters are currently chowing down on smoked woodchuck, but they're having a rough time of it at the moment. :->)

[kathlaw.livejournal.com]

Good point. Makes me glad my stuff usually does this. :-)

Thanks!

[minim_calibre]

Huh.

Yeah.

I see food and showers and toothpaste as staple items when I write, and the more I think about it, the more I'm bugged by stories that don't have those mundane details, because those mundane details are important, drat it. They make it a Velveteen Story.

[stephl.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I'm going to have to remember that when I write fiction.

Thanks for explaining!

[elenabtvs.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful. And did make me think about books, movies, and my own writing. And it's true. Eating, or thinking about eating, is almost invariably present.

[snacky]

How funny - last night I was thinking about books that used eating and food to great effect (and made me hungry when I read them *g*). Thanks for the explanation.

[seainni.livejournal.com]

I just had to say, I _love_ your icon, Snacky.

[snacky]

Thanks!

I wish I could take credit for it, but I found it one of those "up for grabs" icon sites.

It's one of my favorite quotes.

[seainni.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite quotes, too. Makes me want to pull out those books and read them again. :-)

[makaidiver.livejournal.com]

That makes so much sense.

Another thing that I always notice and appreciate in movies and on tv is characters who watch tv (and/or movies), even when you only see it for a second. It's the most normal thing and practically everyone does it, except in tv land, usually.

What a cool observation

[riani1.livejournal.com]

Does it count if it's a vampire looking for dinner? ;) And now I'm reviewing my stories my head looking for examples and places where I might have left it how and how the story could be improved if I did insert it somewhere.

These are the kinds of writing hints I like, good practical things with examples and reasons.