CREATIVE WRITING

The belly rules the mind, suggests a Spanish proverb. And this is often true, whatever the country. Eating can be a pleasure as well as a necessity, that’s why it has inspired many artists, from painters to poets. Feel free to use the following creative writing prompts to encourage your students to explore the subject of food.

1.Describe the most memorable meal you’ve ever had in your whole life (good or bad). Go into detail telling of the people who were there with you (if any), the courses that were served, the venue, and how you felt before and after.

2.Detail an evening in which you create the perfect meal, the perfect ambiance, and invite the perfect people. Elaborate greatly on the preparations made and the reactions of your esteemed guests. It may be a wedding party of your dreams, a birthday party, some anniversary, or simply a party that you throw for fun!

3.Write about eating the most exotic food (e.g. fruit, seafood, dessert). What did it taste like? How did it feel in your mouth? What was the smell? Play on the use of all five senses with this exercise.

4.Your significant other (or a good friend) has invited you over for...pretty much the worst smelling and tasting meal you’ve ever experienced. Describe the entire encounter including every stomach-churning bite.

5.There’s always that dish that your mother makes better than anybody else. It’s something that you can’t help but associate with home. Talk about the meal (or meals) that she created and what the memory of those meals means to you.

6.Tell the story of the first meal you cooked by yourself, without your mother’s help. You may call it “How I learnt to cook”.

7.Write about some experimental dish that you made up when you were following your instinct and not some recipe. Describe all the ingredients and what came out of it.

8.As they say, you are what you eat. Write about your favourite food and analyse what it reveals about your character.

9.Let’s play Robinson Crusoe and imagine that you are on a desert island, with no ready-made food and no shops around. Write about how you would procure and cook something to eat.

10.Finally, let’s not forget about recipes in the figurative sense. Write your own recipe for a happy life!

I hope these prompts have stirred your artistic appetite and made your creative juices flow. Bon appetite!

More Suggestions:

•describe the meal on a desert island, play Robinson Crusoe;

•write a story about someone addicted to a certain kind of food (chocolate, pastry, pasta, fish and chips, whatever).