(unedited)

Writing is like churning butter.

All the random ideas are thrown into a bucket to slowly get sloshed around, back and forth. Each idea is independent from one another, yet there is a vague sense of similarity. With each pulse of the churning stick, the ingredients are thrown and soften. The ideas begin to synthesize, and the project begins to take shape. Increased integration of ideas results with increased difficulty to churn.

Soon, one has a solidified concept of integrated ideas. Now, it comes down to timing. The churner shouldn’t take out the butter too soon otherwise it will not have the full flavor it is capable of, nor will the structure be set up. However, one should not over-churn at risk losing the richness and proper texture.

Butter has a set protocol to follow, the recipe and timing are to be strictly adhered to. Writing, on the other hand, does not have the same set of prescribed instructions; an idea may take days to churn or years. Patience is required. Patience which, “joins time to eternity” (How to Be a Poet, Wendell Berry) allows an idea to become art and transmit beauty for others.

Once the churning is complete, the butter is washed, drained, salted, and stored. Unless the last steps are initiated, an excellent idea will rot inside the barrel of our minds. Wash and purify ideas to their essence. Drain any “excess” out, eliminate to the primary message. Salt preserves the message beyond the hit moments of today and into the eternal truths which withstand tests of time. Finally, mold the butter into a beautiful presentation so that the final project can be shared with the world.

Writing is like churning butter, it is a lot of work, but the end product is always worth it.