Everything you consume in the world around you, whether consciously or unconsciously, appears in your writing process, so use this to your advantage. Step inside the shoes of a character in your favourite novel and analyze how they were written: what do you like? What did you learn? And, most importantly, how could you implement these ideas in your own writing? Study different people so that you can write relatable characters that can appeal to an audience. Consume meaningful things so that you can write meaningful things.
Example:
The Banker and the Baker
A banker strayed from his usual route home from the office and cruised down a dirt road, surrounded by a quaint little village. Every building was well-rooted, covered with blankets of ivy, people in pastel clothes strolled down the uneven sidewalks, and time seemed to slow down under the grey sky. Famished, the banker stopped at a stout bakery painted in bright blues and yellows, surrounded by tables of hungry schoolchildren with their noses buried in books.
He adjusted his tie as he entered, greeted by a bell’s sweet chime and a glass cabinet lined with infinite choices. As the banker scanned the rows, he heard a familiar voice:
“Good afternoon.”
“Afternoon,” he mumbled blankly. “Blueberry scone, please.”
“Coming right up. That’ll be two dollars.”
As the banker reached across the counter to pay, he froze. Behind the wild hair and messy apron, he saw one of his own.
“Brian?”
The baker’s eyes lit up. “Alex!”
“Oh my goodness, I didn’t even recognize you! I was wondering where you’d ended up.”
Alex scanned his humble surroundings, baffled at the stark contrast between the little boy trying on his father’s suits and the young man behind the counter wiping flour off his shoulder.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Brian said with his back turned, pulling some fresh bread out of the oven.
“I suppose,” Alex replied, “in a… cozy sort of way.”
The smell of the bread filled the room, forcing the two men to swallow it like water in a glass. The baker bathed in it, while the banker nearly choked.
“How much do you make, you know, doing this?”
“Does it matter?”
Alex shrugged in his bewilderment. “I’m just trying to understand. Your father, you said you always wanted to be him. What happened?”
“Well,” he smiled fondly, “my mother used to bring me here when I was little, and when she died--since my dad was always working he never talked about her, even when I’d ask-- I came back here to remember her. I ended up learning so much about the history behind the pastries--” he skipped over to a batch of tarts-- “did you know that this recipe is over three hundred years old? Isn’t that amazing? And the people here never forget that; they never forget anything, or anyone. Every night they gather around the table and tell stories over bread and wine, and they make me feel much more alive than a spreadsheet ever could.”
The baker picked up a blueberry scone, bagged it, and handed it to the banker. “Anyways, here you go. It was good seeing you.”
The banker took the bag with a nod, loosened his tie, then stepped out into the freshly-emerged sunlight.
Reflection:
In this piece I aimed to connect a few different ideas. Firstly, I wanted to include a symbol that acts as a driver of culture; in this piece, the pastries baked in the community bring people together, and the baker found a connection to that stemming from his deceased mother who used to take him out to this small bakery in town. It was through the introduction of the baker’s mother that I was able to articulate my second idea of exploration: the process of healing after a loss, and how other people can influence that process. The baker’s father couldn’t support him during that time because he was constantly working, but the people in this community told stories of his mother and the history behind the pastries. This caused him to reroute the course of his life to invest in this community. The third piece I wanted to incorporate is the idea of taking control of one’s path. The baker was expected to become a banker, trained to become a banker, and yet he set that path aside and forged a new one even though his friend (the banker) looked down upon him. I also included some pathetic fallacy in this segment, as when the banker arrives at the bakery the sky is dull and grey, but, when he leaves, the sun comes out, which represents the his enlightenment after his interaction with the baker.
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