By Kimberly Johnson
The other night, I munched on Kung Pao Chicken from a local Chinese place. I like chicken. I like chopsticks. Between you and me, those things were broken.
First, I fought to get my fingers wrapped around them. Then, when I did get the two sticks to cooperate, the piece of meat wouldn’t act right. It kept missing my mouth. Finally, I couldn’t get the right amount of chicken, rice and other stuff balanced on the chopsticks.
I threw them into the brown paper bag and grabbed a fork.
I have another problem: no title for my blog. Got suggestions? Leave a comment. My goal is to write about real Southern food, not the New South cuisine…stuff like grits with lots of butter, chitlins and hot sauce, hushpuppies and ketchup, and a fried boloney sandwich with mustard. I want folks to know that this is good food, not hillbilly fare.
I brainstormed for catchy titles (Cooking Queen of the South, Sweet Tea & Butter Biscuits, Just Like Grandma Made). I perused Paula Deen’s website. I even surfed the food blog directories. All I got was surf toe—it was painful.
I sought professional help. It led me to some good advice for creating a title.
Tip 1: Answer these basic questions: Can people relate to the title? Is the title short and to the point? Does the title conjure a concrete view or an abstract vision? If your title answers these queries, you are the biggest winner.
Tip 2: Be mysterious. The title is a preview for what’s to come in
Tip 3: Be Like a Kardashian. Create drama, but use it with caution. If your title sparks a controversy as way to attract viewers, make sure to support your position in the full post. Be prepared for strong reactions.
Tip 4: Avoid the switcheroo. AKA: the bait and switch. You want viewers to be intrigued with the title and the text. Don’t be accused of selling false goods based on the title.
Tip 5: Be useful. A viewer reads your blog because she has a problem (Can’t cook rice) or she wants to improve (Make chicken noodle soup like Nana ). Solve your reader’s problem, not create one.
Sources: www.novel-writing-help.com, http://dukeo.com, www.problogger.net, http://weblogs.about.com
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
I Picked The Pepperoni Off My Pizza — My Foray Into Food Blogging
By Kimberly Johnson
Yes. I picked the pepperoni off my pizza and tossed them in the cardboard carton that they came from. I don’t like them, anymore. They betrayed me and my taste buds. They attacked the flavorful veggies and punched the tomato sauce square in the gut. I just couldn’t stomach the brutality, especially on a Saturday night.
Don’t get me wrong. I like pizza. But this time, pizza was the catalyst that empowered me to wax and wane about food. I got street cred--I collected recipes from dear old granny and I downloaded recipe cards from Food Network royalty.
My next step: To create a food blog.
My reality: How in the heck am I doing that?
My goal: To do some research.
I jumped on the Internet food highway. To begin with, I sought advice from culinary blog writers. They said stuff like: learn about food, attend local seminars or watch food tv shows. Some said: learn the basics like the different cuts of meat, types of fish and cooking methods. A lot of them said: become a home cook, collect cookbooks, and learn from mishaps. Others said: write articles, become a mystery guest taster, start a blog.
After the advice, I clicked over to several blogs to scout the competition (pardon me, I just finished reading Gordon Ramsay’s bio). Here's what I found to showcase a really scrumptious blog:
Sources: www.ehow.com, www.foodnetwork.com
Yes. I picked the pepperoni off my pizza and tossed them in the cardboard carton that they came from. I don’t like them, anymore. They betrayed me and my taste buds. They attacked the flavorful veggies and punched the tomato sauce square in the gut. I just couldn’t stomach the brutality, especially on a Saturday night.
Don’t get me wrong. I like pizza. But this time, pizza was the catalyst that empowered me to wax and wane about food. I got street cred--I collected recipes from dear old granny and I downloaded recipe cards from Food Network royalty.
My next step: To create a food blog.
My reality: How in the heck am I doing that?
My goal: To do some research.
I jumped on the Internet food highway. To begin with, I sought advice from culinary blog writers. They said stuff like: learn about food, attend local seminars or watch food tv shows. Some said: learn the basics like the different cuts of meat, types of fish and cooking methods. A lot of them said: become a home cook, collect cookbooks, and learn from mishaps. Others said: write articles, become a mystery guest taster, start a blog.
After the advice, I clicked over to several blogs to scout the competition (pardon me, I just finished reading Gordon Ramsay’s bio). Here's what I found to showcase a really scrumptious blog:
Item 1: Have a focus. Talk about the cuisine and cooking style that interests you.
Item 2: Use a free blog service. It is user-friendly. And you should be, too.
Item 3: Upload photos as a mainstay sidekick with your writings. Show your audience your culinary masterpiece or master mistake.
Item 4: Use social media’s real time postings to attract your friends, family and the foodie community.
Item 5: Write. Write. Write. Have guest bloggers join in your food melee.
Sources: www.ehow.com, www.foodnetwork.com
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Writer's Platform, Part II
By Michelle Gwynn Jones
For a writer, getting accepted in the publishing industry today means having a presence in the literary world before you are published. If you are famous in your field, are a household word or a serial killer you can consider yourself known. For the rest of us, it’s not so easy.
The first step for most is a web presence, unfortunately the problem many writers face is that they don’t believe they have anything to say. They ask themselves, “Have I published anything substantial, no, so why would or should someone listen to my expertise? Everything I have to say is second, third or fifty-eighth hand. The last thing needed on the net is more information by people who are just regurgitating something that may have been said by someone even less qualified than I.”
The number of websites offering writing advice is too high to count, the number of websites by those with no expertise in the field is nearly as high. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t write about writing, but write about your writing. Tell the reader how you approach your work. Do you outline like crazy (as I do) or do you just sit down at the computer letting the words flow from your fingers and see what comes out? Do you plan your characters out in advance or is your character formed as your story develops? Have you any idea how the story will end before you start or do you like to be surprised like the reader? Get personal, tell your story.
When I say tell your story, I mean the story of how you write, be very careful in sharing the story you are writing. There are many writers who rush to build their platform before they have the necessary experience and knowledge of their craft. They place work of poor quality on the net, only drawing attention to an inability to write well. This often occurs when a section of the novel or a short story is posted that is not ready for public display. Unfortunately the website does not have the intended results. Instead of drawing in a loyal reader who will return to read you again, the chances are you will turn off your target, or worse, get many unwanted hits when the first reader refers your site to others for a good chuckle. My advice: before you post a portion of your manuscript, make sure it has been edited and edited and edited to death.
For a writer, getting accepted in the publishing industry today means having a presence in the literary world before you are published. If you are famous in your field, are a household word or a serial killer you can consider yourself known. For the rest of us, it’s not so easy.
The first step for most is a web presence, unfortunately the problem many writers face is that they don’t believe they have anything to say. They ask themselves, “Have I published anything substantial, no, so why would or should someone listen to my expertise? Everything I have to say is second, third or fifty-eighth hand. The last thing needed on the net is more information by people who are just regurgitating something that may have been said by someone even less qualified than I.”
The number of websites offering writing advice is too high to count, the number of websites by those with no expertise in the field is nearly as high. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t write about writing, but write about your writing. Tell the reader how you approach your work. Do you outline like crazy (as I do) or do you just sit down at the computer letting the words flow from your fingers and see what comes out? Do you plan your characters out in advance or is your character formed as your story develops? Have you any idea how the story will end before you start or do you like to be surprised like the reader? Get personal, tell your story.
When I say tell your story, I mean the story of how you write, be very careful in sharing the story you are writing. There are many writers who rush to build their platform before they have the necessary experience and knowledge of their craft. They place work of poor quality on the net, only drawing attention to an inability to write well. This often occurs when a section of the novel or a short story is posted that is not ready for public display. Unfortunately the website does not have the intended results. Instead of drawing in a loyal reader who will return to read you again, the chances are you will turn off your target, or worse, get many unwanted hits when the first reader refers your site to others for a good chuckle. My advice: before you post a portion of your manuscript, make sure it has been edited and edited and edited to death.
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