Lessons From a Writer

The workshops we'd dreaded all year had arrived: food journalism.  Section A shuddered whenever the lecturer's name was mentioned.  Harsh.  Humiliating.  Horrible.  Reads papers out loud and highlights all the faults. All words muttered under their breaths about the experience.  Never mind that he's an extremely well-regarded writer and editor in the US, nerves battled with frustration over the writing assignment.

Food and wine are incredibly difficult concepts to write about: how do you convey taste through words without cliches?  There simply isn't an extensive or objective lexicon to express flavour without coming across like a grade two student writing in their journal about the "delicious" dinner they ate last night.  How the hell do you convey what "delicious" means in a way universally understood when taste is so highly subjective?

My decision to challenge myself by writing about wine backfired during my first meeting, which was almost at the end of day one.  "Wine?" he scoffed, "I don't get how to describe wine.  Compare it with another one you've tasted or something."  He tossed the paper back across the recycling counter in the hallway doubling as his temporary office.  I looked down at the pristine pages: he hadn't even read it  No comments, not even a scuff on the page.  Either it was just that bad, or he'd run out of time. 

So I rewrote.  Edited.  Attempted to let my voice shine through.  The entire process was invigorating in a way I haven't experienced academically in quite some time and I'm very proud of the finished product.  At my next meeting, he still hadn't read it, but at least took the time to go through the paper and edit it with me.  Many of the suggestions were excellent ones that streamlined the work.  Others didn't reflect the message I was trying to convey.  He talked throughout the three days about how important it is to discover our unique voice.  True, but I left with the impression that our voice only has real value when it speaks in the style he prefers. 

So C, I appreciate that you're not fond of my "writerly words" but I've spent my professional life simplifying language and concepts for my students.  My writing best expresses who I am when I use words longer than a syllable.  And for that, I make no apologies.