The Critical Recipe & Cookbook

This writing prompt was created by Corbett Harrison, former Director of the Northern Nevada Writing Project.

Writer Instructions:

Challenge yourself by devoting a page (or two) in your journal or your writer's notebook to a personal study of a cookbook's structure.  Don't write the type of recipes you'd really find in a cookbook on this page.  Oh no....instead, write cookbook-like recipes about topics that you have critical opinions about.

Free on-line recipes (to study) can be printed at All Recipes.

Using words, phrases, and the format of a real recipe from a cookbook, create an unlikely recipe for something you would not actually "whip up" in a kitchen.  Today's recipe will be for a something you want to be critical of.

Once you choose an issue you want to write about, think up a situation (real or fictional) where the end result would cause criticism about the situation.   First, think of all of the "ingredients" that are crucial to your situation.  When you write your ingredients down, put some kitchen nouns (a pinch, a tablespoon, a dash, etc.) in front of a few. 

When your ingredients list is finished, write out the "step-by-step instructions" that would explain how to mix your ingredients together.  As you write your instructions, be sure to use lots of cooking verbs (whip, baste, broil, etc.) to give your writing the voice of a real recipe.

Share your critical recipes with friends.  If you end up with enough unlikely recipes, you might have enough to create a cookbook that can be shared.