Sunday 29 April 2012

CupCakes and Creativity

Sometimes it's good to take time away from writing. As authors we can get so wrapped up in our WIP that it's all we think about. But it can be refreshing not only for our health but also for our creativity and writing inspiration, to take time out to do something utterly different.

Today I attended a cupcake workshop where I learned to decorate cupcakes in a variety of ways. I had a lot of fun and feel better for it. It was good to do an activity which was not writing related and as a result of a day off, I am enthusiastic and ready to write tomorrow.

Also, I now have new experiences that perhaps I could use in my writing - one of my characters could be in the catering industry like the lady who took the class - twenty years in patisseries! Sounds blissful. I people-watched too - there were twelve of us at the class with an age range of 20 to 70 with different jobs and different aspirations from the class. Lots of potential for character development there.

If you want to try decorating cupcakes, it's a simple recipe - one block of butter to one box of icing sugar mixed with 2 egg yolks. Half of this can form your base layer, then colour up the other half and use in a piping bag with shape nozzles for fantastic effects!