Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers

Writing

As The Web Goes to Video, What Happens to Writing?

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video-vintage

Hey, have you heard? The web is mostly video already. What does that mean for us writers?

Cookbook author and writer Michael Ruhlman returned to blogging recently, after a couple of months off. In his post, he wondered if people still read food blogs.

It never occured to him that the big question might be about video, not text.

“Am I wrong in thinking that there are fewer [blogs] now and that people are spending their time reading more established sites such as Serious Eats, The Kitchn, and Food 52?” he asked.

Fortunately for him, Elise Bauer of [Read more…] about As The Web Goes to Video, What Happens to Writing?

On Writing an Award-Winning Essay

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dianne-jacob-mangoes

Can you tell that I still love mangoes, the subject of my essay? My local supermarket stocks succulent Atulfos, similar to the ones my dad adored. (Photo by Owen Rubin.)

You might think that writers who win awards have natural talent and dash off their stories in an afternoon. That’s the stereotype. Yes, a story I wrote called The Meaning of Mangoes won two national awards! But I didn’t dash it off, and it took me forever.

Here’s the path of my mango essay and what I learned:

Sixteen years ago, I wrote a piece about my parents and mangoes. A start-up website published it. It happened because I sat next to a woman during an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference, and told her a few stories. The next day she [Read more…] about On Writing an Award-Winning Essay

“Write Like Your Life Depended on It,” says author Carolyn Phillips

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CAROLYN-PHILLIPS

You’ll be delighted by All Under Heaven, Carolyn Phillip’s new cookbok about the 35 cuisines of China. I’m giving away a copy. Leave a comment below and tell me your favorite Chinese food. Sorry, the giveaway is for US winners only, says the publisher.

UPDATE: The winner is Annie Fenn of the Jackson Hole Foodie blog.

Now, on with the story…

If you look up “overachiever” in the dictionary, you’ll find this photo of Carolyn Phillips. A woman of voracious intellect, determination and cheeky humor, she did a deep dive into Chinese culture early in adult life. Carolyn has mastered Mandarin fluently. She can read and write it. Further, she lived in Taipei, married a fellow intellectual from Beijing, and cooked her way through [Read more…] about “Write Like Your Life Depended on It,” says author Carolyn Phillips

“Memoir Has to Risk Something,” says John Birdsall

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John-Birdsall

Food writer John Birdsall has won two James Beard Foundation awards for intensely personal essays.

A few years ago, I went outside my comfort zone. I contacted a stranger and asked to meet.

The stranger was John Birdsall, now a double James-Beard winning writer and essayist. At that time he was a restaurant reviewer for a local newspaper here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I loved his restaurant reviews.

John has since moved on to narrative non-fiction or personal essays, often about the intersection of gay culture and food. I know he’s already won awards and was published in prestigious places, but I feel like he’s just getting started and has so much more to offer us.

Here’s his take on restaurant writing, personal essay writing, and taking risks. He also has good insights about his former writing and the role of an editor. I asked him to write his answers (rather than me interviewing him), so you can get a sense of his style:

Q. How does your background as a restaurant and catering cook influence your food writing? Do you believe that people who write about food should have professional experience or culinary training?

A. For a long time I didn’t think it did: Cooking seemed a prelude disconnected from [Read more…] about “Memoir Has to Risk Something,” says John Birdsall

10 Pet Peeves of a Cookbook Copy Editor

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Crazed-Cookbook-Editor

No, this isn’t Suzanne. But she’s probably pulling her hair right now, if she’s copy editing a cookbook.

A guest post by Suzanne Fass

Cookbook writers may hate me at first if they think that—once they’ve turned in their manuscript to a publisher—they’re done. I make them do more work. I want every cookbook to be the best it can be, the most useful for anyone cooking—and learning—from it.

As a copy editor, I try to save writers from embarrassment. I correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I fact-check. I query missing ingredients, missing steps, cross-references to recipes, and anything else that looks weird to me.

So if you’d like to see fewer copy editor corrections and queries in your manuscript, consider these ten points: [Read more…] about 10 Pet Peeves of a Cookbook Copy Editor

How Writing for Radio Differs from Print

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Kathy-Gunst-NPR

Kathy Gunst has reported about food for the radio show Here and Now for 15 years. The show now has more than 5 million listeners.

Since 2000 Kathy Gunst has been writing for radio for Here and Now, a live news magazine show broadcast to over 500 public radio stations nationwide. Today the show has more than 5 million listeners.

Kathy’s  segment on food airs two to five times per month. As the “resident chef,” she has an enviable job: she covers what interest her most. That might include travel pieces, cookbook reviews, and usually, lots of conversations about seasonal food and cooking.

Kathy is the author of 14 cookbooks (15 this fall) including [Read more…] about How Writing for Radio Differs from Print

For a Cookbook Review, is Testing Recipes Essential?

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I had my 15 minutes of fame in December, when The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and NPR included the cookbook I co-wrote with chef Craig Priebe, The United States of Pizza, in their 2015 holiday round-ups of best books or cookbooks of the year.

It was a giddy time because, as you know, a cookbook review in The New York Times is the Holy Grail. Emails flew as my agent and publisher discussed [Read more…] about For a Cookbook Review, is Testing Recipes Essential?