That’s my lesson of the moment.

I listened to the latest episode of Writing Excuses (the latest Alexa and Anypod had), and the topic was the cultural elements of a story — which led to one of my favorite subjects:

Food!

Ethnicity, travel, and time can play a part in our food, as can the preparation, the spices, the familiarity, the unfamiliarity. Relationships can be so closely tied to food, as can emotions.

So, that now-boring scene where Kaylah, my protagonist of Salvage, is eating some disgusting oatmeal onboard ship? I’m going to make it work at several more levels — if I can.

That meal is already tied to her fears, the others’ hostility, and her mom’s flaky attentiveness, but can I also evoke more about the oatmeal to reflect conditions onboard ship? Or about strict water conservation?

What about a contrast between her life on Earth and onboard ship?

What about a deeper background of where she came from, another little element of why she’s so different? Spiciness from the Cajun side of her family? A longing for meat from the few cows they kept back home?

At how many levels can I make this work?