by Melissa Doffing and Susan Koefod, editors of Let Them Eat Crêpes

Like the saying goes, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, or to make crêpes for that matter. Had we known the process of creating an anthology would take three years and have about as many downs as ups, would we have made the decision to proceed? We had nothing to lose, and in the end, we have a book that makes us proud.

Here’s what we learned about good food writing, the publishing process, and ourselves.

What makes for good food writing?

A food writer works like a chef and incorporates basic writing elements in new ways. A strong sense of storytelling, sensual images, compelling characters, a fresh sense of place—all these classic writing ingredients are found in the best food writing. The food itself is another character in the story: sometimes the hero, sometimes the villain, memorable in whatever role it plays.

Stories that took us on unique journeys—not just to a restaurant or kitchen table, but to a vivid, compelling, particular place in a writer’s life—were the ones that made it into the book.

Why do people write about food?

One of the most intimate ways you experience life is through food. You take it inside your body; it’s life giving. Life’s most important events always include food: first dates, the night you become engaged or break up, weddings, holidays, funerals.

Food stimulates the senses, and memories are often triggered by food smells—the yeasty aroma of bread that reminds us of Grandma’s house, the tang of citrus that calls to mind a particular summer. The simple mention of a certain food or the scent of a familiar dish wafting through the air is enough to transport us to memories and experiences in which that food was involved, whether good or bad.

Writers use food as a way to explore memories, relationships, and events that connect us all. It is a way to dig deeper into an experience. As complexities reveal themselves during the food experience, we use writing to think deeply about what the food represents, and go beyond the sensory experience to reveal new truths.

Essentially, food is one way we connect—whether in shared meals or passed-down recipes. Writing is another way we share our human experiences. It’s just natural that these two activities—food and writing—come together.

Why do we like to read about food?

Food writing is accessible to a wide range of people. We may not have other hobbies in common, but we all eat, we all share meals, we’ve got this human sense of taste that is always seeking out new flavors, new stimulation. Food writing is a way to be an armchair diner at someone else’s table.

Reading about food always makes us hungry—to create new food experiences with our own families, to make new connections, and to eat something great. That, ultimately, was our goal in publishing the anthology. We found the selected stories inspiring, and we wanted to share that with other readers.

What was it like coediting an anthology?

Coediting requires trust, teamwork, and commitment. And lots and lots of communication. With so many tasks—culling through submissions; selecting and editing them; writing our nonfiction book proposal; signing with an agent; working with her as she went through the submission process; creating, maintaining, and updating multiple online sites—there was always plenty to do. And ultimately when we decided to self-publish, we took that relationship to another level. We needed to make agreements about the amount of time and resources we were going to commit to get the book published, whether we were going to publish at all, and eventually how to arrange for a cover, copyediting, and publicity.

How did that work?

It is definitely a lot of work and coordination—and not for everybody. The process requires tremendous patience. And, as we mentioned, trust.

The two of us have a unique skill set: We both have project management and document skills from our days working together as marketing writers. We know how to manage a large document with lots of contributors. We know the rudiments of writing press releases and publicity information. But more than that, we trust each other to make good decisions and value each other’s input.

Finally getting the collection into print was the easiest step. Building our nonfiction proposal and going through the process of trying to get the book picked up by a publisher (during the economic downturn!) was the hard part.

We were delighted to find that both of us have an innate ability to sell the book. We networked to get on the inside track with independent bookstores and other retail locations and placed newspaper articles whenever we could. The end result was beyond our original goal of just getting the book into print: our book was our publisher’s number two travel book during November (the peak of holiday buying); we even placed third in their November sales contest.

It just goes to show that if you feel passionate about something, it’s easy to have the motivation to let everyone know about it, and get everyone you can behind it.

What are the dynamics of having two editors?

Melissa Koefod

Being part of a team forces you to take a second look at things you might pass over. Each of us can think of an essay that the other didn’t even notice at first, but is now a favorite in the book.

We kept each other motivated and focused. One could take the lead when the other felt overwhelmed. Our abilities complemented each other, but we shared one key goal: how to bring these wonderful stories to readers.

What were your most successful methods of gleaning work?

Susan Doffing

The collection was inspired by an essay by former Loft Mentor Program participant and Loft teaching artist, Anika Fajardo. During one of our writing group meetings, Anika read her story “Eating Crêpes in Colombia.” We had a crazy idea that there were more stories out there. We just had to figure out how to find them. So, we started networking, using our connections in the Twin Cities literary community. We posted our call for submissions at the Loft and at all the local colleges and universities. We also posted on Craig’s List in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and New York, and with listserv at the University of Pennsylvania. We paid for an ad in Poets & Writers (all the others were free), which gave us a lot of great submissions.

We set up a website, blog, and Facebook and Twitter accounts where we could post information about the project, develop our platform, and build our future audience. We also kept our eyes peeled for potential writers or crêpe stories in the media that might fit with our project. We asked our friends and they asked their friends.

Now that the book is out, readers are telling us more crêpe stories, making us wonder if Let Them Eat More Crêpes should be our next project together.

Melissa Doffing and Susan Koefod live and write near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. They were drawn together for this anthology by a hunger for good writing and crêpes. Doffing enjoys reading and writing in a variety of genres and is currently trying her hand at fiction. Koefod works during the day as a business writer and moonlights as a poet and novelist. Both can be contacted via eatingcrepes@gmail.com. Web address: www.eatingcrepes.com.

A Question-and-Answer Session with Rebecca Frost and Linda Shapiro

Linda and Rebecca are the founders of Dancers Who Write, a reading series showcasing the literary talents of writers who are also movers.

The View: How was the Dancers Who Write series born?

Rebecca Frost: Our project was conceived somewhere alongside the fall soccer games of our de facto godniece in common. Linda and I, who knew each other from myriad connections in the dance world, would show up to watch the games in chilly weather, intermittently, independently. In between cheering for preteens’ near scores, we’d talk, compare notes, stamp our feet. Turned out we were both writing a lot and had no idea the other was as well.

Linda Shapiro: As a published freelance writer on subjects ranging from dance to the research of University of Minnesota faculty, I had been thinking that I needed an outlet for my newly hatched fiction. As a choreographer, I always had plenty of opportunities to present my work in various stages of development. I wanted that for my writing.

I’d also been thinking about other dancers I know who write and have published or performed their text-driven work, and thought there might be more waiting in the wings. So we chatted a bit about the possibility of a modest series somewhere and started doing some investigating. Todd Boss graciously offered us three evenings in his Verse and Converse series at Nina’s Café in Saint Paul (January, March, and May 2010). They were successful enough that we wanted to continue into the summer at the Bryant-Lake Bowl—to see what would happen in a Minneapolis venue, and, as the Nina’s events were free, to see if anyone would actually pay to hear dancers read their stuff.

by Ellen Baker

Quiet. I’m lying in the October sun on the deck of my just-rented cottage in storybook Castine, Maine, a coastal village of white clapboard houses and a glistening harbor surrounded by elms and maples dressed in their fall colors.

So quiet. Every writer’s dream?

I’m clenching my teeth.

Bev Bachel

The great thing about the new year is the chance for a “do-over.” What you didn’t get right—or done—last year, you can try again this year. This is especially true for writers. It seems that every novelist, poet, playwright, and memoirist I know longs for the big T: time.

But no matter how much more we desire it, we’re each given just 1,440 minutes each day. As a college professor once said when I complained about having to read ten novels in ten weeks, “It’s not how much time you have, it’s what you do with it.”

Here are some tried-and-true tips that can help you make the most of your time.

Go for your goals. You won’t be able to complete anything if you commit to everything. Be willing to say no, even when it means disappointing others. That way, you’ll be able to say yes in a big way to the goals you consider most important and the tasks that will help you achieve them. No, I can’t go out to dinner. Yes, I will see meet you for the movie that’s set in the same era as my historical novel. No, I can’t write a lengthy response to that e-mail. Yes, I will spend 15 minutes making a list of my main character’s flaws.

Break them into bite-size pieces. Going for your goals all at once is like trying to swallow an apple in one bite. Instead, break them into chunks that you can easily accomplish. Take one Loft class. Make a list of three agents. Write seven paragraphs. Doing what you set out to do, even it it’s just getting out of bed when your alarm goes off, unleashes an adrenaline rush that can help fuel you through your next to-do.

Get started. One of my favorite writing tools is the kitchen timer. The next time you find yourself procrastinating, set the timer for 15 minutes and start doing. When the timer goes off, stop. Or continue. It’s your choice. And regardless of which you choose, you will have gotten an important start on whatever you’ve been putting off.

Make use of the margins. If you’re like most writers I know, it’s hard to find time to write. There are work, kids, household chores, and more, all screaming for attention. Rather than waiting for a day off or an evening when you’re home alone, start making use of the margins, those small pockets of unexpected found time—when you’re on hold, when your gal pal is late for coffee, or when your teenager refuses to get off the phone. Take advantage of the small, and you’ll be surprised at how much you’re able to scrawl.

Track your numbers. Tracking your numbers every 30 days will help you make better decisions. There are many different numbers you can measure: minutes spent writing, word count, queries sent, queries accepted, poems written, and freelance-article income are just a few examples of the types of numbers that should be guiding how you spend your time, energy, and creativity.

Good enough, move on. Rather than agonizing over whether the protagonist in your novel should be wearing an amaranthine sweater or one that’s aubergine, call it purple and move on. As my friend and fellow writer Carolyn says, “Done is better than perfect.”

So, whether you long to finish your novel, journal more consistently, or make more money as a writer, now’s the time . . . ready, set, restart. It’s the best way to make the most of the coming year.

Bev Bachel is a full-time writer and author who’s enjoying her 2011 restart.

by Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.

—Robert Frost

Robert Frost’s words point to the foundation of all good writing:  the writer’s open heart. A writer’s willingness to be moved by his or her work is an invitation to the Muse; it is a free, exploratory state that allows what’s hidden in the recesses of our being—ideas, imaginative worlds, unanswered questions, psychological battles, memories—to emerge. What lurks in the private unconscious also lurks in the collective unconscious, and so the work that bubbles up when a writer puts pen to page is a glimpse, however brief, of the great mystery of being human. We writers must enter into relationship with this mystery, in one of its trillions of guises. Only then do tears and surprises—the transformation of both the writer and the text—become possible.