Thursday 19 September 2013

How to Become a Food and Travel Writer

With the growing popularity of the Travel Channel and the Food Network, there seems to be an explosion of interest in becoming a travel or food writer. Apparently people such as Anthony Bourdain, Samantha Brown and Andrew Zimmern have sparked a renewed interested in faraway places and unfamiliar food. Although high profile gigs on network television are few and far between, that doesn't mean you can't make a modest living from your travels and culinary exploits. In this article I will offer a starting point for your new career and some helpful tips gained from my own journey.

Instructions

    1

    Brush up on your writing skills.
    While most people can write a simple email, holiday greeting or letter to Aunt Sally, constructing a well-thought out, intelligent and interesting article can often present a challenge. Before you begin writing a single word, spend some time brushing up on grammar, spelling and basic composition. This may sound condescending, but you'd be surprised how many things you've forgotten since high school English class. Nothing will ruin a good article as quickly as a misspelled word or poorly constructed sentence. The best advice is to start writing practice articles for your friends or family to critique. Don't be afraid of a little constructive criticism of your work. If you can't handle rejection or harsh comments, you're headed into the wrong business.

    2

    Invest in a laptop computer.
    Although this is not a necessity, the ability to write on the road will become extremely helpful with travel writing. When you've decided to write an article on a city, attraction or place that you've recently visited, waiting until you get back home can dull your memory and excitement about your new discovery. Having a laptop with you will allow you to post an article on your experience immediately. You can also update blogs, social networking sites and email while on the road.

    3

    Develop an Internet presence.
    Lacking the ability to publish your work in a printed newspaper or magazine, you'll need to utilize the Internet as your main source of publication. Set up a simple web page that offers something about you, a blog, links to your articles, and contact information. This, in a sense, will become your resume or storefront, if you will. It doesn't have to be complicated or flashy, just lots of information about you and your work.

    4

    Start writing.
    To be a good writer, you need to write every day. Even if it's only a blog entry, writing every day will help you develop your skills and begin to build a library of articles. It's especially important to try writing on subjects that are new or unfamiliar to you. This will help you develop your research skills, as well as your creative writing skills.

    5

    Familiarize yourself with the industry.
    Print and Internet publications related to the travel and food industry are everywhere and growing daily. To become a part of this industry, you must know the competition and the current trends. Read travel and food magazines, watch the Travel Channel and the Food Network, and scour the Internet for online information. Knowledge is power and it's the difference between walking on the cutting edge of the latest topics and having your work lost in a sea of data.

    6

    Find an outlet for your work.
    Let me be honest. As a new, unknown writer, your articles are not going to end up in this Sunday's Food and Travel section of the New York Times. You're also not going to be offered thousands of dollars for your first composition. With this understanding, start looking for publications that will print your work, even if it's for free. This is not something that you want to do as an ongoing practice, but it will help gain some needed exposure and experience, which will help you find paying gigs in the future. Web sites such as Associated Content, eHow, Constant Content, Suite 101, and Helium will publish your articles on the Internet and pay you a portion of any advertising that they generate. You won't get rich, but pennies add up to dollars, which add up to a paycheck. Specialized sites such as TripAdvisor will allow you to focus on travel articles in particular.

    7

    Promote your articles.
    Set up a profile on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace where you can promote your articles and drive traffic to them. Services such as Digg and StumbleUpon are great places to post notices on your latest articles. Active participation in online chats, forums and message boards can also help to promote your work.

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