(no, not mine, silly – other people’s)

These are some of the pieces that I have found helpful, inspirational or otherwise worth reading when it comes to food blogging and writing. Something magical about the blogging community is bloggers’ willingness to share their trials and tribulations, to open up their process and let you peek inside. You don’t get sections of novels that tell you how they went about writing it. If you’re lucky, you might get a bit of an insight from an interview or two, but you’ll seldom get the sort of no-holds-barred honesty that you get from a blogger.

The biggest difference for me has been finding 750words as a way to make sure I write every day. Almost every writer will say that you just need to write every day to become a writer. Don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Don’t do it only when you feel the muse. Just start hitting the keys and see what comes out.

On food blogging:

Amateur Gourmet – 10 food blog posts that’ll get you traffic
Joy the Baker – 10 real talk blog tips – and 10 more
Dinner: a Love Story – How to Blog: My rules – a perspective from a magazine writer and editor
David Lebovitz’s advice on food blogging

On food writing:

Advice for future food writers – a somewhat pessimistic (or realistic) view of the food writing industry by Amanda Hesser at Food52, formerly of the New York Times (she’s the journalist that comes to dinner in Julie & Julia, that sends Julie into a complete spin).
Michael Ruhlman – So you want to write a cookbook – the co-author on Thomas Keller’s French Laundry Cookbook and many others, as well as author of a series of books in his own right
Dianne Jacob is an authoritative source on all sorts of food writing, and getting paid for it. Her book on this is Will Write for Food
Lulu Grimes from Olive magazine runs a Leith’s course on food writing, which I very much enjoyed
Deb Perelman on what she learned writing her cookbook

On writing more generally:

Molly Wizenberg, in the middle of her manuscript writing
Merlin Mann – Better a hymn to the need to care what you are producing, and to do whatever you’re doing better, more thoughtfully
The Economist style guide, especially the introduction, which also restates George Orwell’s 6 elementary rules of writing

Books:

Steven King ‘On Writing’ The definitive book on this – how Steven King does it, what he does and what he’s learned.
Annie Lamott ‘Bird by Bird’ Funny, wise, thoughtful advice on writing, directed more at writing fiction, but helpful for all kinds.
Natalie Goldberg ‘Writing Down the Bones’ Lots of ways to practice writing, to develop the craft and get better by trying different things.
Steven Pressfield ‘The War of Art’ How to get out of your own way when trying to do something new and scary and creative.