Huh? How? Okay. Here we go.
I never really had a job where I saw my work's direct actions, decisions, or results. I made videos, collected intel, and other stuff for the CIA, but the impact of those products were usually unknown to me — as it should be. At Motorola, I had slightly more visibility as I helped collect information supporting corporate strategy. But, I had nothing to show other than a nice presentation or document.
For a while, I became attracted to watching reality TV, where the point was to make things.
So, what is the connection between cooking and writing for me? First, I get to make something—from scratch to the finished product. Second, I can see/taste the results and see how I did in the faces of others. I can experiment.
Writing is like cooking. You start with nothing…less than nothing, really. In cooking, you can usually look around for a recipe. I can control the ingredients—make it healthy. Make it tasty. Writing…? It is a blank white screen and an evil little cursor. But then you create your recipe full of plot and characters, seasoned with exotic locations, atmosphere and layers of flavor.
As an author, you can find out if your efforts were successful or not through reviews, sales, or other comments.
More on making tasty things in the future, but first, here is a healthy recipe I have made several times—my zucchini plant went nuts this summer.