writing fuel

I've made it clear, I think, that I think the proper food for writers is chocolate, preferably dark, to be taken 2 squares at a time whenever inspiration wanes. But other foods should not be disdained, especially when you do a day-long writing stint.

All of which is to say that my writing friends and I had another writing retreat day, and our menu included

white cheddar popcorn

chocolate-covered dried cranberries

red pears

mineolas

fresh pineapple

crackers (Triscuits and whole wheat biscuits)

smoked Gouda

an amazing lentil soup

This beautiful and intensely sustaining soup wasn't totally responsible for any brilliant work done that day, but I am thinking of making it when I start on the last (I hope) revision of my novel.

Just to make it clear that we didn't eat all day long, here is a list of what was written:

my sister: a poem about melting ice (which was happening outside as we wrote)

T: some pages of her novel, which is about a brother and sister who are inseparable when they are young, but who as adults have difficulty with each other's life choices

K: working with notes on articles (interrupted by having to meet the plumber at her house to confer over a frozen pipe)

me: the possible beginning of a short story about 3 women discussing their love lives in a bar over margaritas (it's terribly dialogue-heavy though--so much that K or T suggested it should be a play; I do love to write dialogue).