Food not only sustains life, it sustains story lines. When reading, I find one of the cleverest ways writers give insight into a character is showcasing what they eat. Not how they eat, not where, not when- but the actual what.
Sure, Kathy, a lab-created clone, is fighting for a deferment from the mandatory donation of her vital organs so she can spend more time with the love of her life, but just as importantly she drinks luke-warm water with her dry “biscuits” every night before bed. Okay, so what if Cassia is just discovering that her perfect society is about to crumble from outside freedom fighters? She is about to miss the meal cart that brings her a healthy portion of vitamin-infused mashed potatoes! I know Robert is a nuclear-physicist hell bent on solving the world’s energy crisis but did you know that he can’t start a day without his nutella and banana sandwich?
I thought I was crazy too. Amber, you really think writers spend sooo much time deliberating over what their character eats? Yes, 1. Because writers have mini-anxiety attacks on every tiny, seemingly-insignificant detail when writing the world’s next greatest novel (which all authors hope they are producing- they’re both gluttons for punishment and kind of narcissistic) and 2. Because, whether you realize it or not, those food choices give you insight into the character and his/her entire environment.
What if Kathy the clone was the one eating a nutella and banana sandwich? Preposterous! She leads a simple life. Her story is a serious one. Only such a sandwich would be eaten by a kooky person (or, perhaps, someone who is a little Bananas? It’s almost poetic if I do say so myself). Nutella bananawiches are for the humorous, mad-scientist to digest in a quirky scifi novel— not for the delicate palate of another mad-scientist’s creation in a book challenging morals and ethics and questioning what it means to have a soul. No, luke-warm water and dry biscuits will do just fine for her.
Yeah, the how and the where and the when are important too. But the what! The what tells it all! What does this character choose put into their body? To satisfy their taste buds? What do they pick to give them nourishment during their life-altering journey?
Cheesefries, really? I wouldn’t have picked that. No time for food comas when you're leading the fight against an oppressive government.
