9 tips to make your food post interesting
Recently I’ve received an increasing number of requests to guest-post on my site, which makes me ecstatic, but it also sets me in a difficult position to evaluate what is interesting. Of the millions of food blogs out there, what makes yours interesting? It’s you. Your voice, your emotions and your own experience with the food can set your post miles above a recipe that I can find just 0.2 seconds after I google its name. I’m no professional blogger, but I’ve read a fair share of food blogs, and from the ones that I keep returning to, I’ve learned and formed my own set of guidelines on how to write a post (which I try to follow, sometimes more successful than others).
In general, recipe posts have more room for personal stories, and they also comprise the most common type of food blogs (small sample: of the top 50 food blogs on Delish, 43 are recipes), so these guidelines are more geared toward recipe blogging than reviews. I’m gonna skip the photos, although they’re important, they’re the varnish and the writing is the wood.
1. Write statements with specific details, geographically and historically. Let’s say you want to write about grilled catfish. You need an opening sentence. Your first thought is “When it comes to catfish, there are many American dishes. They are mouthwatering and delicious.” These two sentences sound choppy and unimpressive, so you can remodel them into “Our American cuisine has no shortage of mouth-watering dishes with catfish, such as Catfish Tuscany and Catfish Gumbo.” Then you give more background details to it: in which regions in America are these dishes most common, who usually like them; or give a more personal touch: do you have a childhood story related to one of these catfish dishes, how did you come to like catfish or fish in general, etc.
2. Be confident with your opinions, but respect your readers. You’re not trying to give a lecture, you’re just telling a story. Sometimes a confident statement may sound a little bit too direct and confrontational. For example, “you should eat catfish because it is healthy” sounds like an order, but softening it to “my mother always tells me to eat catfish because it is healthy” offers not only consideration but also a personal story and a third opinion (your mom’s), which gently boosts the credibility of your statement. The use of “you” should be minimal, unless you want to make it sound like a conversation, which you should.
3. Give reasons. Why is catfish good for health? Include scientific facts if possible. Include your grandmother’s experience is even better: 1. It’s personal; 2. It’s most likely universal, somehow all grandmothers think the same; 3. It’s proven with time.
4. Tell a story. How did you come up with this recipe? How is your recipe different from other recipes of grilled catfish? Basically, what makes your recipe unique? What have you discovered while making this recipe, using this product, or eating this dish? James Boo and his co-writers on The Eaten Path tell some of the best stories.
5. How flexible is your recipe? Can I use brown rice instead of basmati rice, pork bone instead of beef bone, or blueberries instead of raisins? For a review, how adaptable is the dish or the product? Can it be eaten any time of the day, any season of the year? What kind of beverage would it go well with? What changes can/should be made if I want to make it for my grandmother’s cousin who has dentures and is fond of duck tongue?
6. Tell us about the result. What do you think about your recipe after you eat it? Is it perfect? Did it give you a split second of enlightenment? Is there anything you should have done differently or is there anything you would like to experiment next time you make it? Will you make it again? Did your best invention give you the worst stomachache the following day? Did anyone beside you eat it, if so, what did they think? The answers to these questions add personality to your post and complete your story.
7. Google is your best friend. And like with your best human friend, you should prepare to spend a lot of time with Google. There are already a lot of information out there, simply reciting the first link you find is not going to make your post any better than that link. What the reader needs is all of that information in one place, so that they can quickly go back and look up for it as needed. I spent 2 days browsing through 50 pages of articles on the ash sticky rice dumpling (bánh ú tro), most are copies of one another, to get enough information for my post. The more inclusive your post is, the more useful it is for the reader. Your reader is spending their valuable time to read your post, so you have to invest your time to research before you write.
Also make sure to cite your sources. Citation doesn’t take away your expertise, it proves it.
8. Be funny. This point is always mentioned in every blogging to-do list, and it’s the hardest point to follow. How can you be funny? I try, but I don’t know if I’ve ever succeeded because nobody has ever told me that I’m funny. But here’s a trick I’ve learned from noodlepie: you can be funny by referencing funny things. Use the built-in links to your advantage. Those who bother to click on them, get the hidden jokes.
9. Be open about yourself. Be personal. If you don’t want the world to know about you, maybe you should set your blog private, or blog in your head. Besides, the world is not out to get you, unless you’re a serial killer on Interpol‘s wanted list who also enjoys seeking out the most authentic pad thai in the States, in which case you probably shouldn’t blog about where you just had lunch… (or maybe you should?)
To sum it up, a good blogging tone is confident, respectful and open. Content-wise, be informative. Ask yourself while writing: have I learned something new? If you don’t learn anything new while writing your post, that means you haven’t done enough research and your post is useless. Even if you think of the entire post all by yourself in one go, there are always numbers and statistics that you can add to bolster your arguments, or fun facts to make your baked potato not so trivial, or new words that you procure from thesaurus.com to avoid repeating yourself. If you learn something new while writing your post, chances are your readers will learn something new from your post, and that newly acquired knowledge will prompt them to think of your blog as a valuable source, and they will come back.
This post was written after an allnighter. Now the author has learned what her third alarm, which she always sleeps through, sounds like.
Thank you, I have recently been searching for information approximately this subject for a while and yours is the best I have found out so far. However, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you certain in regards to the source?
1I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
2We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our entire community will be thankful to you.
3I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
4I just could not depart your site prior to suggesting that I really enjoyed the standard information a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often in order to check up on new posts
5I dugg some of you post as I thought they were invaluable very helpful
6Attractive portion of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I success you get right of entry to constantly quickly.
7It is truly a nice and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
8Very interesting info!Perfect just what I was searching for!
9I haven’t checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
10I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check again here regularly. I am quite sure I’ll learn a lot of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!
11Some really excellent info , Gladiolus I detected this.
12I like this web site so much, saved to fav.
13I genuinely enjoy reading through on this web site, it has got wonderful posts.
14You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
15Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
16Absolutely indited content material, Really enjoyed reading.
17I simply could not leave your web site before suggesting that I extremely loved the standard info a person provide on your guests? Is going to be back continuously to check out new posts
18The following time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I know it was my option to learn, but I truly thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you possibly can repair for those who werent too busy in search of attention.
19After research a few of the blog posts in your web site now, and I actually like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site record and can be checking back soon. Pls try my web page as well and let me know what you think.
20Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your tremendous writings. Past few posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
21I see something really interesting about your blog so I saved to favorites.
22I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
23Thanks for helping out, wonderful info. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” by J. K. Rowling.
24I haven’t checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
25Greetings! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!
26Hi, Neat post. There is an issue with your site in web explorer, may check this… IE nonetheless is the marketplace leader and a huge component to other folks will omit your great writing due to this problem.
27Some genuinely superb information, Sword lily I detected this. “Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it.” by Lucius Annaeus Seneca.
28Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
29I am impressed with this internet site, really I am a big fan .
30Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the internet. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thanks =)
31Thanks for another informative blog. Where else may I am getting that kind of info written in such a perfect means? I have a mission that I am just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.
32Hi, i feel that i noticed you visited my web site so i got here to “return the want”.I’m trying to find issues to improve my site!I assume its good enough to use some of your concepts!!
33Hello. remarkable job. I did not anticipate this. This is a remarkable story. Thanks!
34I like your writing style truly enjoying this site.
35I believe other website proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and wonderful user genial layout.
36Very interesting details you have observed, regards for putting up. “She had an unequalled gift… of squeezing big mistakes into small opportunities.” by Henry James.
37