A Food’s Person
A Food’s Person
Revealing Character Through a Bite of Something Strange or Simple
Revealing Character Through a Bite of Something Strange or Simple
Your goal in this exercise is to create a character moment—not with action, but with a meal. You’ll select one image of a food and one of a person, and then write a vivid, emotionally rich paragraph describing that person eating that food.
This is about subtle storytelling. You’re not writing a plot twist or action scene. You’re revealing who someone is by how they eat.
Find a photo of a single dish or meal. Ask yourself:
Is it clean or messy? Fancy or basic?
Is it comfort food? Experimental?
Does it match or contrast with the personality you're imagining?
Think beyond just flavor—how the food looks, smells, and behaves matters.
Find a photo of a person—real or fictional, young or old. This is your character. Ask:
Are they careful or sloppy eaters?
Do they savor? Devour? Avoid?
What’s going through their mind as they eat?
Let the face and body language tell part of the story.
Want help finding images? Google "Portraits of People." Unsplash is a great resource.
Write one descriptive paragraph (or a short pair of paragraphs) of your character eating the food. Focus on:
Point of View – Are you writing in first-person? Third-person close? Third-person omniscient?
Tone & Mood – Is the scene tender? Sad? Disgusting? Awkward? Spiritual?
Imagery – What do we see, hear, feel, and taste?
Subtext – What do we learn about the character through how they eat?
🍴 Eating is one of the most revealing actions a character can perform. Do they eat like they were raised with manners? Do they chew like they’re punishing the food? Do they hesitate?
Your Name
Photo of the Person
Photo of the Food
Your Paragraph (5+ sentences)
Mr. Tretyak
Old Man eating Rice and Roasted Vegetables
James dug his thin fingers into the edge of the bowl, pinching picked pieces of rice on the placid afternoon. He sat on the patio next to a chalk-drawn menu, his shoulder almost gracing the “farm-to-table” slogan slapped on to encourage a particular type of customer. His blue eyes admired the soft, blackened edges of the seared tomato skin as he wondered if it tasted like it had been, or if he was only making a connection that never existed to begin with.
The sympathetic sunlight bathed James’s thinning hairline. He glanced at the slapped slogan, then gazed at his upturned hand; the juices of the meal softly glazing his fingertips. He saw the farm reflected in his calloused palm. His aching back reminded him of the years he’d spent with the sun, often less kind, roasting his skin as his parched mouth wished it could suck the water from the soil like the vines of his own crop.
Don’t write a biography. Just one moment.
Make it strange, funny, tragic, quiet—whatever you want.
Let the food tell us who they are.