Writing Journal Worksheet – Food (PDF)

One of my favourite prompts from Writing Down the Bones is Goldberg’s advice to write about food…

“If you find you are having trouble writing and nothing seems real, just write about food. It is always solid and is the one thing we all can remember about our day… From the table, the cheese, the old blue-eyed friend across from you, from the glasses of water, the striped tablecloth, fork, knife, thick white plate, green salad, butter, and glass of pale pink wine, you can extend yourself out in memory, time, space, thought, to Israel, to Russia, to religion, the trees and the sidewalk. And you have a place to begin from, something concrete, palatable, clear, right in front of your face.”

– from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Try some of the prompts in this worksheet, or some of the scene ideas below. I’m sure you’ll be surprised by how much you have to say about food!

Ideas for Food Scenes

1. A dinner date
2. A business dinner
3. A victory feast
4. A wedding reception
5. A school cafeteria
6. A prison cafeteria
7. A family reunion dinner
8. A refectory
9. A last meal on death row
10. A picnic
11. A takeaway
12. A TV dinner
13. Breakfast in bed
14. A food fight
15. A solitary meal
16. Lunch in the car
17. Hunting for food
18. Storing/packing food
19. A cooking/baking contest
20. Grocery shopping
21. Cooking dinner
22. A pot luck
23. Hunger
24. A food delivery
25. An airplane meal
26. Feeding
27. A hospital cafeteria
28. A packed lunch
29. A barbeque
30. Ordering food
31. Picking food
32. Serving food
33. Sharing a meal
34. Baking
35. Snacking
36. Throwing away food
37. Scavenging/foraging
38. Playing with food
39. Waiting for food
40. Setting the table
41. Queuing for food
42. Clearing the table
43. Growing food
44. Washing dishes
45. A soup kitchen/food bank
46. A food shortage
47. A cookery class
48. Food poisoning
49. A dinner party
50. A food offering/sacrifice
51. Synthetic/ersatz food
52. Making preserves/pickles
53. Illegal/forbidden foods
54. Trying a new food
55. A feast for the gods

P.S. You may also enjoy the Description and Senses worksheets.