Right on!

Renae Du Jour — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:44:47 -0500

I thought I was the only third-grader who spent hours boring her friends to tears while I wrote plays for them to present.

There's something about reading food writing that always makes me a better cook, writer and food appreciator.

Food, family and the connections in between
Renaedujour.com

Thanks for the reminder!

MMarquit — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:00:51 -0500

Sometimes, as a writer, I forget to read as much as I should. I love reading, but sometimes I don't feel like I have time. This post is a great reminder that I need to make time to do a little more reading. It will make me a better writer!

To Write, First Read: Techniques to Improve Blog Writing

Alanna Kellogg — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:09:02 -0500

I wrote my first play in the third grade sitting cross-legged on the top bunk with a yellow tablet in my lap, hollering at my sister to leave the room so I could 'get the words out in peace'. That night, my father, a gifted writer albeit a sentence contortionist, began quiet coaching. Lesson Number One: To write, one must read. Perhaps this is why, in the midst of my own writing doldrums (ha! I just learned that the word is always doldrums, never 'doldrum') that I feel compelled to highlight the good writing from my fellow food bloggers, whose posts collect in my feed reader as fast as dandelions in unmown grass.

For the fourth edition of Cooks with Quills, April's best writing from food blogs, I'm turning my father's lesson by ninety degrees. Instead of featuring especially well-written posts as in prior months (though each post is, indeed, worth reading), this month I highlight the many ways food bloggers flex their word skills, employing creativity in post titles and great ledes into the bodies and all the way to footers. While I've used food blogs as examples -- because I do so love and admire my fellow food bloggers! -- the same principles apply to all word-centric blogs. With any luck, all of us who Read to Write will come away much inspired.

Best Post Title
Clever post titles grab the attention of regular readers. (Oh dear, too bad they are unhelpful for SEO purposes.)

~ ~ ~ Stoned? in a food blog? What can Jen mean? Visit Getting Seriously Stoned at Milk & Cookies

Best Lede
We do know how to spell lede, right?

A compelling lede: "Perfect lettuce glows. ... Unfortunately, the glow doesn't last long. From the minute lettuce is picked, you're in a race against time and the elements. Tick, it is getting smashed by your other groceries. Tock, it's starting to wilt."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: A Simple Spring Salad Recipe at 101 Cookbooks

Best Turn-Around Story
Good story-telling draws us in from the beginning, often setting up a feeling of suspense.

Excerpt: "I don’t like Good Eats. It annoys me. I don’t like when people take classic recipes and re-engineer them no matter how similar the end results and Alton Brown’s on-screen personality –- which grates on me in a way few can -- leaves me feeling almost physically uncomfortable."

~ ~ ~ What won over food blogger Bill Burge? Alton Brown at STLBites.com

Best Use of Acronyms
I'm no fan of the thirty-bazillion acronyms burning up the food blog world. DMBLGIT. SHF. TWD. IMBB. WFLH. Please, Daring Bakers, don't turn yourselves into DB dweebs! A few insiders may know the code but our readers, even many of our fellow food bloggers, are left out in the cold by alphabet soup. But for an occasional post, where the code is demystified straight-off? No problem, especially when it sets the stage for humor.

~ ~ ~ Visit I Have CCC: Creative Cooking Compulsion at Thyme for Cooking

Best Use of Multiple Choice
Who says that food blog posts must be written (a) in paragraphs (b) with the same format every time (c) to provide readers all the answers (d) none of the above?

"Hey everybody! It’s multiple choice time! So gather your wits, sharpen your, uh, keyboard and let’s get going.

Cantaloupe is:
A) Surprisingly easy to chop, though the juice gets dang near everywhere.
B) Difficult to spell, with that whole “loupe” thing.
C) Something your roommate might confuse for a hatstand.
D) Meant for better things than fruit salad."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: Cantaloupe Soup Pop Quiz at Cheap Healthy Good

Best Description of Weather
Seasonal cooks are moved by the weather. We don't know what's for supper until we've been to the market and know the forecast. So like it or not, weather reports often show up in food blogs.

Excerpt: "Spring is being a bit cagey this year. She doesn’t know if she really likes the sun, warm breezes, outside picnics. I mean, winter can be attractive—he’s blustery, he’s frigidly cold but then again he’s inviting, enticing people to go inside and cuddle up by the fireplace with him and a cup of steaming hot chocolate, or maybe even a warm stew. He reminds people how good home is, since every time anyone steps outside he wallops them on the head with cold air. And he encourages everyone to eat and eat, foods with lots of butter and substance, without ever asking them to put on a bathing suit."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: A Little Spring in my Kitchen at Caviar & Codfish

Best Description of Travel
Molly Wizenberg is always a delicious read but this post had me clicking onto Travelocity looking for plane tickets. Or wait, did I want to enjoy spring at home?

"Traveling is really, really great. I mean, I know that’s not exactly newsworthy, but bear with me for a minute. I guess what I mean is that, especially since I started working at home, where I spend lots of long hours in concentration and quiet, every time I go away, I feel thirsty somehow - like an old, crusty sponge, waiting to soak up something, anything, a new sight or smell or taste. And it feels so good to drink it all in, the way you’d do with a glass of water, in one enormous gulp, on a humid day. All that drinking in and soaking up, all that traveling, so good.

But then, after a while, coming home is kind of great too, in its own way."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: The Way a Cloud Would at Orangette

Best Use of a Word-of-the-Day Dictionary
It's fun to learn new words -- more fun to understand their meaning without running for the dictionary.

Excerpt: "These cupcakes are a gallimaufry of unexpected ingredients, all of which add up to a complex and sometimes rebellious personality."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Black Valentine Beans at Becky & the Beanstock

Best Use of Illustrations
Especially notable because Matt Armendariz is a professional photographer as well as a food blogger.

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: This Isn't a Food-Related at Matt Bites

Best Break-up Story
Some times, a cook just has to move on.

Excerpt: "Dear Lemon, I know we used to have a great relationship. And I know that they always say that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Well, you haven’t been around. It seems like every time I have needed you, you just haven’t been available. And someone else has."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: The Most Extraordinary French L_m__ Cream Tart at Canela & Comino

Best Life Advice
We often want to share important lessons, the stuff that can change lives.

Excerpt: "When we would go back to visit my maternal grandparents it meant a few things. One, my diabetic grandmother would slip us money to go buy her doughnuts and we could “keep the change”. ... It meant picking raspberries while trying not to be stung by bees ... It meant breathing in the fumes of Vlassic pickles ... And it meant the torture that was Sunday drives with my grandfather."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: Enjoy the Now at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Best Live-Blogging
Life's a laugh with two kids three and younger, yes?

"David [the Dad]: How was school today, Sweetheart?

Lucy [the three-year old]: I have something in my bum.

David: You do? Do you have to go poopy?

Lucy: No, but there's a nick nack paddy wack, give your bum a dog...Did you hear that? I said give your bum a dog? Haa Ha Haaaaaa Ha Ha!

Kim: Are you cracking yourself up?

Lucy: I'm funny. Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Give your bum a dog... Ha Ha Ha!"

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: Linguine alla Carbonara at

Best April Fool's Joke
Excerpt: "It is with a heavy heart and sad regret that I write this, my final post, today. Unfortunately, even though I have not yet completed this project, I have to shut down this site because of a cease-and-desist notice I received, which I've pasted below with the sender's permission: ..."

~ ~ ~ Keep reading: French Laundry at Home Forced to Close at French Laundry at Home

Best Contest
How many chickpeas in this jar?

~ ~ ~ Visit The Chickpea Answer at Wee Bit of Cooking

Best Use of Footers
Every photo post, Farmgirl adds a specially crafted footer, often amusing, feeding readers into her archives to encourage pageviews, and adding a link that helps catch spam scrapers.

~ ~ ~ Here's a Sample: Legs Up to There at Farmgirl Fare

What Are Your Favorite Posts?
Those are my own contributions of the best examples of creative techniques from food blogs during April. But blog writers and blog readers, you too. Think back over April. What post moved you? called to you? made you think? changed your thinking? made you laugh? grabbed you at the first line? turned a memorable phrase? captured the rhythm of the month? Are you especially proud of a particular post? If so, leave a comment with a link. And during May, watch for great writing from food bloggers. Take mental note, bookmark the post, tag it "great writing" in Del.icio.us. Don't forget. See you next month!

What Is Cooks with Quills?
Each year, the food blog community nominates its favorite posts of the year, then takes a vote to determine the Post of the Year. Naturally -- so many food blogs, soooo many posts, such short memories -- recent posts and consistently good writers dominate the nominations. To balance the year and the writer pool during 2008, each month we're collecting a handful of posts that represent great writing from great food blogs.

Prior Editions - Cooks with Quills 2008
Cooks with Quills 2008
January
February
March

To help readers quickly assess interest, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg provides a recipe summary at the start of each post. For example, she describes Slow-Roasted Asparagus as 'Spears of asparagus quick-cooked, topped with grated Parmesan and dotted butter, then roasted. Low carb but definitely not low-calorie. Delicate, dark and dreamy.'

BlogHer - To Write, First Read: Techniques to Improve Blog Writing - Comments

Right on!

Thanks for the reminder!

To Write, First Read: Techniques to Improve Blog Writing