“What Will Your Main Character Eat?” by Joan Y. Edwards
Happy Thanksgiving!
“Thank you, God” by Joan Y. Edwards
Thank you, God,
for our world so sweet,
for the food we eat,
for water to drink,
for the ability to think.
Thank you, God,
for our moms and dads,
for girls and lads,
for friends who give us hope,
for ideas that help us cope.
Thank you, God,
for words to write,
for people to read,
for songs to sing,
for bells to jing-a-ling-ling-ling
Thank you, God, for everything.
I thought Thanksgiving would be a great day to do this blog post about what your main character would eat. This is the fifth in the Main Character Series with Pictures from www.morguefile.com. Pictures are worth a thousand words. When you are a writer you can create the allusion of pictures in the minds of your readers by using great descriptive words.
Foods give you a great way to use your senses to describe foods. Also colors…fruits and vegetables spread a wonderful array of color. In a sad story, you could choose all the dark-colored foods on purpose to set the tone. I’m sure you’ve noticed that when you have a cold, foods taste bland. Your sense of smell also helps create the sense of taste. With your nose stopped up, the taste is different. The touch of the finger foods might help your main character decide if it was worth eating. Would eel or snail be too slippery and slimy? (Ooh yuck! I’m freaking myself out.)
See, hear, taste, smell, and touch! Which senses call you more to your favorite foods? Which senses enhance the flavors of your foods and make you like them even more. Does your main character have a test foods need to meet for him to eat them? Here are a few images to help our brains enjoy a little diversion to help you decide.
Is your main character on times so bad that his table is set, but there is no food to place on the plates? What are his choices? Is he thankful for what he has? Is he angry? Does he take desperate actions?
Rolls in artistic shapes to make them pleasant to look at. Is the outside crunchy and the inside soft? If your character only likes soft rolls, she’d renege on these.
Ah! A baked potato done to perfection. Add butter and a pinch of salt. YUMMY. Smooth taste to your tongue. If your main character is diabetic, this could send his sugar spiraling up. White bread, white rice, white rolls! Carbohydrates turn to sugar in your body.
Does your main character believe that eating chocolate is the only thing that is keeping her alive? Without chocolate, she feels she would die. What would she do if there was a worldwide shortage on chocolate. The price goes up. She loses her job. Uh oh!
Your main character has eaten bacon every day of his life. It’s part of his breakfast ritual. The doctor tells him that he has to watch his cholesterol levels. Somehow the taste of turkey bacon doesn’t light up the savor taste buds for him. What will he choose?
When things are going rough for your main character, he may love the smooth taste of the ice cream and the fruity tang of the strawberries.
Does your main character want to impress his girl friend. He’s a runner. Runs in marathons. Will he splurge at a new downtown restaurant for steak, green beans, shrimp, and rice?
Does your main character believe an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Statistics prove that eating an apple a day helps keep down sugar levels in diabetics. They are crunchy and colorful. There are sweet apples and tart apples. So many choices. But you don’t want to eat a poisoned apple, like Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Green beans are healthy vegetables. Snap them in smaller pieces. Cut off the ends and eat them whole. Eat them crunchy or cook them until they are soft.
Does your main character have to stop at the mall where the vendor sells pretzels? Those huge pretzels are soft and chewy. Just enough salt to make you thirsty, too.
Would your main character get into a watermelon seed fight and end up throwing chunks of watermelon at each other? What a waste of tasty, moist watermelon! If your main character is a child, would he be like me and believe it if a man told you that if you swallowed a watermelon seed, a watermelon would grow in your belly?
Would your main character buy the grapes with seeds or without seeds? Why?
I hope you enjoyed today’s post about foods your main character might like or dislike for varying reasons. Please leave a comment and let me know your favorite foods. Tell me which foods are addictive for your character and which one he would never eat even in a month of Sundays. Thank you, www.morguefile.com for letting me use your pictures for free. You are a blessing.
Joan,
Tis the season for yummy food…seems like we often want what isn’t good for us. Thanks for the wide variety of pictures and captions to stimulate creativity.
I did enjoy choosing foods for characters in a breakfast scene I’m writing. This post reminded me how I thought about what food would suit each one best.
Enjoy the holiday foods and get-togethers.
Dear Linda,
Thanks for writing. You’re welcome for the wide variety of pictures. I’m glad they stimulated creativity and you were able to find breakfast items for one of your characters. Thanks for your holiday wishes!
Celebrate you every day of the year
Never Give Up
Joan
Now I just want breakfast. I write about athletes so there are a lot of cards in the diet. I have one pregnant character so that influences what she eats. I’m going think about putting in foods my characters don’t like. Thanks for the idea. Could make an awkward dinner party moment out of this.
Dear Kristina,
Thanks for writing. I’m glad you ate a good breakfast while reading my blog, even if only a cyber breakfast. I understand that your pregnant character would have to watch what she eats. Some pregnant women develop Gestational Diabetes…in which case they really have to watch their carbs and sugars. You’re right, If your character is adamant about not eating a certain foods and the only foods served at a dinner party in her honor fall into this list, it could create havoc unless she does her Yoga centering! Enjoy developing your great characters! You’re making me want to find out more about them!
Celebrate you
Never Give Up
Joan
Joan what a great idea for a post. My main character in THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM really disliked something she had for breakfast every day– miso soup. I must say I do not care for it but my daughter loves it! My favorite meal is meatloaf-strange but true it is my comfort food with mashed potatoes too! When I have a rough day rice krispy treats do the trick. But I never refuse anything chocolate! 🙂
Dear Kathleen,
Thank you for writing. Thank you for saying this was a great idea for a post. Good that you found something your main character had to eat every day that she disliked. That adds on the tension. I love to cook and eat meatloaf, too. Chocolate is very tasty.
Celebrate you and your writing.
Never Give Up
Joan
Such a fun blog and great series, Joan. WIthout even reading it, I started thinking about my 2 characters and what they ate. Imagined a scene where the food one family is cooking brings back memories for the other character and is a connection they unexpectedly make. Thanks for posting this and getting my brain juices going! 🙂
Dear Carol,
Thanks for writing. You make my heart so happy by saying that I got your brain juices going just from the title. How cool is that! Great idea to have meals remind characters of other times, places, and people. I have a few more ideas for this series coming before long.
Celebrate you and your writing.
Joan