Lessons Learned With A Side of Humor:
The Day a Dozen Donuts Took Me Down
Have you ever noticed how the first bite of a treat is always the best bite? Savory or sweet, once the first bite is enjoyed, we go in for another to recapture that first-bite wonder, to no avail. It makes me wonder why I don’t simply stop after the first bite. As if that were possible . . .
In Lulu’s Café, my main character is all about a donut, and girlfriend is like most of the rest of us and does not stop at one bite. She is known for taking down a dozen fried doughs of glory in one sitting. Well, I’m all about character study and diving into scenes so that I can convey them more authentically to my readers. You can probably guess what I attempted to do.
Sure, I gave it my all. Me and the box of donuts had a face-off, and that pretty confectionery box of treats took me down. Y’all, I didn’t even make it halfway through before my vision grew blurry and my stomach began rebuking the challenge. I remember looking from the chocolate glazed donut pinched between my fingers to the computer screen while swallowing with great effort. After tossing the unfinished challenge back into the box, I wrote the scene that I’m about to share a snippet of with you.
Her mouth watered as her fingers worked the donut box lid off. One of the apple fritters screamed her name. She savored each bite and then continued on to the homemade strawberry jam–filled one. It practically melted in her mouth.
Trying to fill the void in her life, she moved through the donuts until the box was empty. Then the dread of what she had just done pointed its disapproving finger at her. Sweat beaded on her top lip and the wooziness grew more intense. She knew better than to eat all those donuts in one sitting, but she just couldn’t bring herself to toss any of them. Next time, she would only order a half dozen. . . .
As you can see, I took my author duty of writing this small scene quite seriously and was willing to suffer for my art. Perhaps with my next novel, I should suffer through a spa visit or a trip to Hawaii. . . .
Although this is just a small part of the book’s story, you will discover the giant meaning behind it as you read. A lesson I learned from this experience is that I should stop to savor the first bite of life—food, memories in the making, adventures, or whatever it may be. No sense in rushing through the good parts of our own story, right? Another takeaway: Trying to fill a void with something else will only cause more trouble. Face the voids head-on and seek help if needed, so that way the goodness can be fully appreciated.