SIMPLICITY

Ever since I got my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, my baking has become far more proficient. My ever-growing-arthritic hands are being saved wear and tear. Breads have always been a joy to make, and now the integration of the yeast more fully yields more buoyant loaves.

I came across this recipe for a rustic crusty bread as my first attempt with the new mixer. It came out fabulous: truly crusty on the outside yet fluffy and light inside. Great as toast or to make a gourmet sandwich. What I noticed from this and other recipes were the minimal ingredients required. I mean, look at the recipe: flour, water, yeast, salt. Sure, you get them out and ready, then you make your bread, and you eat it. After a couple of times, you have to marvel at the fact there are only four ingredients required. Certainly, you have the mixing and the rising and then the baking. There are ministrations to go through to get to the end result. Beyond that, you need only four ingredients.

What do I need as a writer? Perhaps some education would be useful, if not an abundance of experience. A computer of some sort to work on, unless you’re old-fashioned and prefer a typewriter. Maybe you have books for research and review or simply use the internet. The bottom, line, however, is you only really need: creativity, imagination, words, and desire.

As with the bread, there may be plotting or character development. There is certainly a great amount of editing required. We don’t need to mention finding an agent or publisher and then marketing because that would be like asking yourself what to do with the bread you just baked. No, I’m talking about the process. Craft comes later. What kind of flour? How long do I proof the yeast? Table salt or kosher salt? Subplot. Description. Dialogue.

Perhaps, if you’ve been writing long enough, you wind up feeling a need to search for something beyond what you have been doing, a different manner in which to do it. There might be a sense you are simply churning out a product. This causes you take on more than is required all because you can no longer accept the simplicity of what is required.

From Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Book 2, Verse 9: “This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole and what is my nature.” I do not believe it is on our nature to unnaturally add upon a system or practice so many layers as to separate us from the basics of what is required. Go ahead if you want to make a multi-grain fruit and nut loaf. I’ll stick with my rustic crusty bread.