{"id":17097,"date":"2015-10-18T22:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T02:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=17097"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:27:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:27:51","slug":"get-that-cool-job-food-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer","title":{"rendered":"Get That Cool Job: food writer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just about everybody has strong opinions about food, which is clear anytime you step into a trendy restaurant and hear people gathered around a table discussing whether the butternut squash soup needs a little more ginger or the quinoa salad really benefits from the addition of sugar snap peas.<\/p>\n

But only a lucky few get to write about food for a living. Food writing is a sought-after niche, and one that many people try to carve out a place for themselves.<\/p>\n

Want to delve into food writing? Launching your own blog is the most obvious path (one that led writer Julie Powell to a book and movie deal for Julie & Julia<\/em>), but it\u2019s just one of the ways you can write about your favorite meals. You could also become a critic focusing on local restaurants if you\u2019re into the food and how it\u2019s presented, or chronicle new recipes you\u2019ve developed if you\u2019re more interested in what happens in the kitchen. You could also write features about chefs and other movers and shakers in the culinary community.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of opportunities out there for food writers, but very few of them offer big money. In fact, the field is so crowded that many publications don\u2019t pay at all. Your only compensation might be a comped meal from a grateful restaurant owner.<\/p>\n

Want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about food? Then follow the advice from these professional food writers.<\/p>\n

Be adventurous<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to write about food if you\u2019d rather have a turkey sandwich and fries for dinner every night. You should always be ready to try different types of food, even if they\u2019re new to your taste buds. You need to be able to tell readers whether a dish or a restaurant is worth trying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love eating,\u201d says Zach Everson<\/a>, a food journalist based in Washington, D.C. who\u2019s written for Lonely Planet, Eater, and Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler<\/em>. \u201cBy doing this, I get paid to eat, and I get paid to write off the meals. It\u2019s part of my job to go out there, try some new experimental food, and see the latest things that chefs are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hone your writing skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re an expert on food, that\u2019s not the only job qualification. Food writing requires traditional journalism skills, especially if you\u2019re planning on doing a lot of interviewing or reporting. Getting a degree in journalism, or just taking a few writing courses, is going to help you get an assignment.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people these days become writers without any background study because the internet affords that luxury,\u201d says New York-based food writer Jenny Adams<\/a>, who\u2019s covered stories for the Miami Herald<\/em> and Travel & Leisure<\/em>. \u201cIt’s tough to watch our profession getting a bit hammered lately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams says that you should write\u2014and write a lot\u2014to get to know the field. That way your pieces will stand out from the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou owe something to your subject in the way that you portray that person, even if you are only discussing something as insignificant as his or her corn dog recipe,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s an understanding that comes through study and practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look for atypical stories<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In food writing, you have to know how to spot a good story. Look for the great details that catch a reader\u2019s attention. An article about a chef learning how to cook in his or her grandma\u2019s kitchen is probably not going to engage your readers\u2014that one\u2019s been done a thousand times. But if her grandma\u2019s kitchen was located next to a swamp in Florida, and the two of them used to catch and fry gators by hand, that\u2019s a story that you can easily sell to a variety of publications.<\/p>\n

To find these types of stories, Everson says he follows chefs and restaurant owners on social media. He keeps in touch with his sources so that they pitch him ideas for stories that haven\u2019t been published anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Everson says great stories can come from the most unusual places. When he was a reporter, he even scoured the court records for lawsuits between restaurant owners (always a juicy topic) and health code violations (especially interesting when it\u2019s a four-star restaurant).<\/p>\n

Learn photography<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can be as articulate as possible in your food writing, but without accompanying photos, readers are not going to be drawn in. Whether you\u2019re reviewing restaurants or coming up with your own recipes, always have a camera at the ready, and know how to use it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to make sure your photo skills are good,\u201d says Casey Barber<\/a>, a New Jersey-based food writer who does recipe development for Today.com and recently released Pierogi Love: New Takes on an Old-World Comfort Food<\/a><\/em>. \u201cTake a class in photography, because photos drive website traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Adams comes up with pitches for editors, she says she never fails to integrate photos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find an idea. I create a short pitch and gather a few relevant photos. Then I send that whole package to an editor, suggesting how I’d like to cover the subject,\u201d Adams says.<\/p>\n

Be professional<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to being a food writer, meeting your deadlines and turning in perfect copy is going to go far with your editors. Even if you\u2019re being paid little or nothing for a piece, prove that you\u2019re a professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with young writers who don\u2019t take criticism well, don\u2019t turn things in on time, or go above the word count,\u201d says Barber. \u201cThat can make or break you when you\u2019re trying to get your foot in the door at a lot of places.\u201d<\/p>\n

And these days, getting and keep an editor\u2019s attention is crucial. Writers who are sloppy or hard to work with don\u2019t get another assignment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe field is very crowded,\u201d says Barber, \u201cbut if you feel passionate about food writing, don’t let that stop you from following your dreams.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just about everybody has strong opinions about food, which is clear anytime you step into a trendy restaurant and hear people gathered around a table discussing whether the butternut squash soup needs a little more ginger or the quinoa salad really benefits from the addition of sugar snap peas. But only a lucky few get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":17099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGet That Cool Job: food writer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Love food and want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about it? Follow the advice from these professional food writers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get That Cool Job: food writer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Love food and want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about it? Follow the advice from these professional food writers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ideas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-19T02:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-30T22:27:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3107\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1747\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Get That Cool Job: food writer\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-19T02:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-30T22:27:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\"},\"wordCount\":1033,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747\",\"articleSection\":[\"Professional Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\",\"name\":\"Get That Cool Job: food writer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-19T02:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-30T22:27:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"Love food and want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about it? Follow the advice from these professional food writers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747\",\"width\":3107,\"height\":1747},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Professional Development\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Get That Cool Job: food writer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"name\":\"Ideas\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WeWork\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"width\":55,\"height\":55,\"caption\":\"WeWork\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Get That Cool Job: food writer","description":"Love food and want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about it? Follow the advice from these professional food writers.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Get That Cool Job: food writer","og_description":"Love food and want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about it? Follow the advice from these professional food writers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer","og_site_name":"Ideas","article_published_time":"2015-10-19T02:00:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-30T22:27:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3107,"height":1747,"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Get That Cool Job: food writer","datePublished":"2015-10-19T02:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-30T22:27:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer"},"wordCount":1033,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747","articleSection":["Professional Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer","name":"Get That Cool Job: food writer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747","datePublished":"2015-10-19T02:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-30T22:27:51+00:00","description":"Love food and want to take the next step and actually get paid to write about it? Follow the advice from these professional food writers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747","width":3107,"height":1747},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/get-that-cool-job-food-writer#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Professional Development","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Get That Cool Job: food writer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","name":"Ideas","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization","name":"WeWork","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","width":55,"height":55,"caption":"WeWork"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/10\/Get-that-Cool-Job-Food-Writer.jpg?fit=3107%2C1747","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17097"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51888,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17097\/revisions\/51888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}