Rainbow Foods, Rainbow Stories
I love this poster of the American Dietetic Association’s
National Nutrition Month,
which just so happens to be this month:
Who doesn’t enjoy a plate full of tasty, rainbow-colored
foods? But alas,
my kids have twisted this phrase to their own advantage,
suggesting yes,
they agree. Just fill their
plates will jelly beans, Twizzlers, Sour Patch kids and cupcakes
swirled with cheery frosting. Same rainbow but different
nutrition!
Thinking about eating right with color makes me think about
writing. Because writers
write with a color palette, too. When I visit kids during school visits, we talk about how
writers use descriptive language to paint a scene
writers use descriptive language to paint a scene
and to describe our character’s appearance, dialogue and
setting. The more tones and shades we use, the more vivid (and real) our descriptions.
Where do we get all these “writing paints” to work with?
Good in = good out,
that’s what I say. The more we read and listen to a variety
of voices, the more we
acquire a database in our noggins to help us discover
the right words we’re looking for.
And speaking of food (because I’ll admit it. Now I’m craving a bowl full of
colorful berries), we writers
realize the power of food in our
stories too. My first two books have food in
their titles: Kimchi & Calamari, and Rocky
Road.
(Do you know what these three foods are?) Food is something that
makes readers
perk up and pay attention.
They relate when our characters moan about a nasty
casserole dinner, or
cheer when they slurp down a creamy milkshake.
Here’s to National Nutrition Month and painting our writing
with color and food.
Yum!
