Skip to main content

Writing about writing, cooking

Writing and writing some more, every day, every morning, and writing in my head all the time.

Sometimes, it gets frustrating when I have to go out when all I want to do is write, and then come back home and rush to the notebook only to find all that I had to write has disappeared, like camphor in the sun.

I know, I’ve written about dictaphones, about making notes, but that simple but strong energy of a fresh thought sometimes just refuses to be captured.

And then there are those dreaded times when you are so full of things to write, but when you come to the paper or a blank screen, everything just does a jig dance, overwhelming you, and refusing to be channeled through your hands.


Because that is what I think writing essentially is, it is channeling, channeling something that comes from up above or deep within, I’m not sure which (or perhaps that is the same place), but it is not like cooking from a recipe, but going into a trance and letting the hands pick up ingredients, spices, the mouth take a taste from time to time, and let the energy flow to create a new dish.

I always do my best cooking this way….and writing, is a lot like cooking, or any other creative process, where you get rid of your logical side and let your wild, imaginative side out on a field trip.

You might just create a mess, but that is risk worth taking, because might equally well create a capolavoro, a masterpiece.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.