Chocolate: Are You a Cacao or Cocoa Writer? by Kathryn Ross

Welcome back Kathryn Ross to Thyme for Writers! Chocolate: Are You a Cacao or Cocoa Writer? is Kathryn’s next article in her series, The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words.

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Chocolate is sweet
And super-good for you!

February winter chills warm when lovers celebrate Valentine’s Day with time-honored flair. Romantic dinners, handcrafted card exchanges, flower deliveries, and close to 60 million pounds of chocolate candy consumed on Valentine’s Day, mark the traditions of this holiday, sharing expressions of love.

Chocolate

The glory of a heart-shaped box of chocolates may tickle your taste-buds with luscious flavors, but the cost to your body in cocoa-calories and sugar content has little real health benefits or love for your body in the aftermath. Chocolate is delicious and satisfying to enjoy—but, if overindulged, extra pounds on the scale and sugar-related maladies will require editing.

Cocoa verses Cacao

Why, then, do doctors claim that chocolate has health benefits? Don’t be deceived—not all chocolate is created equal. Cacao is the raw seed from the pod of an evergreen tree grown in South America and West Africa. It possesses a host of health benefits. But, the process used to create cocoa—the type of chocolate that is commonly found in candies and desserts—includes the application of high heat to raw cacao. Minimal nutritional benefits remain, and are further negated with the addition of sugar, oils, or milk fat. Here’s a terrific article to further explain this confusion regarding chocolate.

Only dark chocolate with cacao amounts of 70% and above affect the body for wellness. Quality dark chocolate is less sweet and still adds calories. However, its nutritional value in the areas of anti-oxidants, cardio wellness, brain function, cholesterol control, blood pressure regulation, and more, suggest that cacao chocolate makes it beneficial for daily consumption. A very small square, savored slowly after dinner, will do the job. It won’t satisfy like a typical milk chocolate bar, which feeds disease rather than fights it. Those sinfully delicious candies nestled in a Valentine box are predominately sugar and very addictive. You can’t eat just one! Cacao chocolate is slightly bitter to taste and very rich. You won’t be able to eat a lot of it at one time, forcing you to savor it in your mouth longer. Eating cacao chocolate cannot be rushed.

Are You a Cacao or Cocoa Writer?

Writing is work.
Composition takes time.
Like a bite of dark chocolate
Savored slowly, makes prime.

When we rush our writing, we run the risk of overloading it with empty calories and a host of unhealthy ingredients. It’s like binging on the wrong kind of chocolate—cocoa not cacao.

• Take your time. Savor each word in your work.
• Don’t rush the plot. Tell your story, but chew slowly to be sure you extract its fullest flavors.
• Critically assess the purpose of each line, removing unnecessary filler ingredients to deliver optimum reader benefits.
• Use quality words rich in meaning, imagery, and depth for full effectiveness. Depending upon your unique writing voice, be it flowery or sharp and concise, word choice enhances every style.

One of my favorite Hebrew words found repeatedly throughout the Psalms is “selah.” It comes between verses ripe with meaning and impact, inviting the reader to stop and think about what they’ve just read. Like slowly savoring a quality piece of chocolate, mining the full essence and zest of the sweet, employ “selah” to your writing life.

So, how do you approach your writing? Are you a cacao writer or a cocoa writer?

(C) 2018 Kathryn Ross

Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Productions and Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. Her passion is to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, producing readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview. She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.

Writer, speaker, teacher, and enrichment artist, Kathryn Ross, sweeps readers into the story-worlds of Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, Hannah Hurnard, Marguerite de Angeli, John Bunyan, and others, exploring powerful truths to fulfilling God’s plan for your life in her latest publication, The Gatekeeper’s Key. Discern your place and season, with encouragement to see purpose in boundaries, find comfort in trials, and gain fortitude in going forth. Short story, personal testimony, excerpts from classic literature, visual imagery, challenge questions for discussion, and journal prompts for writing assignments draw you before the Gatekeeper. It’s quite a journey—but you’re never alone. Always in His Presence, with an Invitation, a Gatekeeper, and a Key. Perhaps more than one. Purchase on Amazon or direct from Pageant Wagon Publishing.