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Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More |  | Author: Dianne Jacob
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Seller: Oceansale
Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 111382
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1569243778
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.066641
EAN: 9781569243770
ASIN: 1569243778
Publication Date: April 10, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Transform your food passion into words with Will Write for Food, the first-ever guide to the ins and outs of food writing, from one of today's experts. Offering a thorough, practical program this groundbreaking book includes: -Advice from dozens of award-winning writers including Jeffrey Steingarten, Calvin Trillin, and Molly O' Neill, plus well-known editors and literary agents -Comprehensive chapters ranging from restaurant reviewing to memoir writing to get published -Focused exercises to stimulate creativity and organize thought -Expert-author Dianne Jacob's own tips and suggestions sharing more than 25 years of experience in the field Whether you're looking to break into professional food writing, or simply wish to create a family heirloom cookbook, Will Write for Food is the first and only guidebook you'll need to follow your food dreams.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 37
Great resource for foods writers April 19, 2005
Cathe Olson (In the kitchen)
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
This is a great book about food writing. It has advice on writing cookbooks, restaurant reviews, articles, memoirs and fiction. Although I have written several cookbooks and many food-related articles, the excellent advice in this book will make my future books and articles even better. I also got ideas for new markets for my writing.
One other thing I loved about this book were the quotes from food writers and exerpts from books. I now have a huge list of books I want to read.
"Will Write for Food" is a book I will definitely refer to again and again.
DELICIOUS INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF FOOD WRITING August 29, 2005
Heather Ivester (Georgia)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
What is food writing? Before I read Jacob's book, I thought I might learn a few techniques for writing restaurant reviews. Wow -- I was wrong! This is a huge, magnificent field, of which I've merely sampled my first appetizer.
The author's research in compiling this book is extensive. In presenting her ideas, she doesn't limit readers to her own personal experience; she interviewed hundreds of successful food writers and asked them how they got started, what a typical day is like, and what advice they have to give.
Despite her years of industry experience, Jacob truly understands the heart of a beginner, and her voice is as far from snooty-hooty as one can be. Readers will feel encouraged and energized after reading chapters on the secrets of restaurant reviewing, cookbook compiling, recipe writing (yes, it is an art form!), memoir and nonfiction food writing, and food in fiction.
Jacob's passion is so contagious, her words dance across the page. She seems especially interested in the trend of narrative food writing, and she gives you tips on how to make your writing full of jolt and flavor. What are the three laziest adjectives used to describe food? She says "nice," "wonderful," and "delicious." She writes, "They are so vague that readers don't know what you mean other than something positive." Instead, she offers an extensive list of adjectives in chapter 5 that make it well worth the price of the book.
I'm only a simple home cook. My creativity usually involves whipping up kid-friendly favorites without having to dash off to the grocery store for exotic ingredients. Although I've written a few of my own recipes, I certainly didn't realize what an exciting art form food writing can be.
While reading this book, we ate out at a new restaurant, and I imagined myself as one of those fancy New York Times reviewers in disguise (didn't know they may actually wear wigs!). I had our waiter answering a myriad of questions, and even dashing back to speak with the chef. I brought home a menu and scribbled all over it my impressions.
I'm intrigued as to how to better describe tastes and food. And I never considered children's books to be a place where good food writing can exist. After reading WILL WRITE FOR FOOD, I am much more aware. I appreciate the recommendation from Writer's Digest and will certainly add this to my bookshelf of favorites.
I love the way she describes what it takes to make a great reviewer: [They] have passion, knowledge, authority, a great writing style, and stamina...They give the reader a feel for the place, its rhythm, and overall vibe. And they keep up their energy level and enthusiasm. Passion is paramount."
She quotes experienced food critic Alan Richman who says he can't wait to see what a restaurant has in store for him. He shares, "I get a hop in my step."
A well done book, indeed.
--Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester
FINALLY! April 21, 2005
the critic
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I can't believe no one came out with a book like this sooner. Thank you Diane Jacob. Finally a book that deals with the actual writing about food. I have read many books on how to publish magazine articles etc... but none of them deal with the actual style in which you write. I even attended a food writing workshop and to my dissapointment we barely touched on improving our writing skills. We were told "it can't be taught".
Excellent Reource for Culinary Writers. Buy It! June 24, 2005
B. Marold (Bethlehem, PA United States)
25 out of 30 found this review helpful
`Will Write for Food' by culinary journalist and writing teacher, Dianne Jacob is a must read for everyone who has any intention on entering the culinary writing field. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Ms. Jacob makes it clear that like virtually every worthwhile endeavor, success with culinary writing is difficult. As I have occasionally given some thought to trying my hand at submitting culinary writing for publication, I have thought that there may be some `easy' markets, if I were just clever enough to find them. Ms. Jacob has convinced me that there are no easy markets, at least none which actually pay real money for publication. Even the seemingly `easy' outlets such as local newspapers, magazines, and niche magazines have so many sources of either free or relatively inexpensive material that even these markets may be tough to crack. The major national markets such as `Gourmet', `Saveur', and `Food and Wine' are virtually unreachable by the newcomer.
The second most important thing about Ms. Jacob's book is that it does not intend to teach you how to write. She does give a few pages of suggestions and hints, especially on word usage in culinary applications are spread here and there around the book. And, a few references to sources on training for writing are given, including my very favorite `The Elements of Style' by Strunk and White.
Thus, the book is more about the food writing market than it is about writing. This is a very good thing, as all your writing efforts are worthless if you don't have a clear notion of your audience, your medium, and your medium's picture of their audience. And, the quantity and quality of sources, especially web sites given in this book are truly astounding. There is not a single culinary web site of which I am familiar that is missed, although the name of the TV Food Network web site is a bit out of date. And there are many, many more which are new to me. I am also happy to see that Ms. Jacob includes a mention of a personal web site or blog as a means of getting your writing in front of an audience. This is the modern world's version of self-publishing with even less overhead than a paper and hard covered book. She even mentions `printing on demand' where the vendor only prints the physical volume when they receive an order for the book. All this means is that this is a very up-to-date manual on all your outlet alternatives.
So, Ms. Jacob's primary focus is identifying all the culinary writing markets, finding the one which best suits your interests and skills, and giving you suggestions on how to maximize your success in each market. Along the way, there are lots of interesting bits of information on, for example, why there are so few negative restaurant reviews. From the newspapers' point of view, there is simply no point to publishing a highly critical review of a local eatery, even if they don't advertise in the paper. People give much more interest to suggestions on where to go than where not to go. Unfortunately, Ms. Jacob's book was probably in galleys when Ruth Reichl's `Garlic and Sapphires' book was published, so there is no reference to that book. So, if you are really interested in restaurant reviewing, Ms. Reichl's latest book is also a must read.
Along the way, Ms. Jacob quotes a really impressive range of successful culinary writing professionals, starting with Judith Jones (VP at Alfred A. Knopf and original editor for Julia Child, Madhur Jaffrey, Lydia Bastianich, and Diana Kennedy) and including Julie Sahni, Deborah Madison, Tony Bourdain, James Villas and Ruth Reichl. With all these bases covered, I'm surprised she has no mention of Michael Ruhlman who is both a major culinary journalist and collaborator in cookbook writing with Thomas Keller.
As Ms. Jacob does not cover cookbook reviewing (my favorite culinary writing hobby), I will comment on her extensive tips on writing recipes. In general, I believe her tips are very good for the amateur or newbie recipe writer. And, I wish most cookbook writers would follow her suggestions. But, I believe there is room for more than one paradigm of a good recipe. Ms. Jacob gives us what may be called the Julia Child paradigm, where the author assumes little general culinary knowledge on the part of the reader. So, as most people react to Ms. Child's recipes, you have the feeling of the author's standing at your side and walking you through each step. This method is especially good for teaching traditional recipes to amateurs.
A second paradigm may be called the Elizabeth David model, as you find in her books on Mediterranean, French Provincial, and Italian recipes. Here, the object is less to give detailed instructions than to cover as broad a field as possible, spending a lot of time on comparing and contrasting recipes from different regions. The recipes are not so sparse that a trained cook could not reproduce them, but doing so may require a fair amount of specialized culinary expertise.
A third paradigm may be called the Joel Robuchon model, which is what I expect to find in any cookbook written on a restaurant's `haute cuisine'. This model allows both unusual ingredients and difficult techniques, as the object of this writing is not so much to teach the amateur a recipe, but to simply tell us how it is done at the chef's famous venue. The best practitioner of this style is probably Thomas Keller and literary collaborator, Michael Ruhlman.
At one point, Jacob advises against using a rather long list of words for culinary techniques in recipes. This list includes `blanch', `braise', `fold', `poach' and twelve other technical terms. I cannot disagree more on this point. The only case in which I would avoid these words is in a community fundraising cookbook. Any book written to teach should not hide its flame under a skillet!
Excellent primer and useful reference. May 12, 2005
Guy J. Martin (Melbourne, Australia)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
For the last year or so, I've been trying my hand at writing restaurant reviews. With no experience or qualification apart from the fact that I like to eat, it has been an interesting experience. Fortunately, as Dianne Jacob shows, experience is not necessary. As long as there is passion, you can learn the rest, and "Will Write for Food" is a perfect step to help you go from passionate novice to professional.
This book helps quell some of the myths surrounding the profession of Food Writing, and is endorsed by many big names in the industry, including Anthony Bourdain, Greg Patent, Andrew F Smith, and Darra Goldstein. Throughout the course of the book, she uses the expert opinions of heavyweights like Alan Richman, Jeffrey Steingarten, Judith Jones, Molly o'Neill, Ruth Reichl and Tom Sietsema to name just a few. The broad range of style and experience of her interviewees helps to bring together a solid image of what Food Writing exactly is.
"Will Write for Food" has helped me refine my existing skills and has given me plenty of other resources as to how to acquire more. If you are, or want to be, a food writer, this book should be the first thing on your shopping list.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 37
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