Food Writing

Food Writing
A Bi-weekly Ezine
Volume V, Issue 22
July 7, 2008
www.food-writing.com

*****^^^^*****^^^^*****^^^^*****^^^^*****^^**
For writers who love food and food lovers who write. Subscribe and
Unsubscribe instructions are found at the end of the e-zine. Our
subscribers' privacy is important, I will not sell or share e-mail
addresses or names with other businesses or publishers. This
newsletter, in its entirety, may be shared via e-mail and on lists.
Thank you!

************************************************

"Recipe:  A series of step-by-step instructions for preparing ingredients you forgot to buy, in utensils you don't own, to make a dish the dog wouldn't eat." - Anonymous


In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note – Mea Culpa and Summer Time Changes
2. TEN COMMON MISTAKES PROOFREADERS MUST WATCH FOR by James Hamilton
3. 5 DO'S AND 5 DON'TS OF REVIEWING RESTAURANTS by Pamela White

4. Markets and Jobs for Writers – will be back next issue

*******************************************************


1. Editor's Note – Mea Culpa and Summer Time Changes

Hello again. We are already into July and I'm working on "The Art of the Restaurant Review" course that will start in September.  I also canned the site I was using to make the self-guided courses downloadable due to too many complaints that they weren't providing the download links.

So for the immediate future, I will be emailing all products (or mailing in the case of the print book) and will do so as soon as I see that an order has been made. Since it's summer and this is the time we head for the lake as often as possible, please allow me 48 hours to email all purchased products to you. (we have no internet at the lake, our first year to do this, and I must say it makes our time there so peaceful. )

I would like to clarify a point I made in the last issue's article on working for hire. I used the example of really needing to have a book published before an agent will look at your manuscript.

A reader wrote:  "This is so NOT true! If you have a marketable idea along with a great proposal, an agent will be interested…Please don't be misleading people. It's just not nice and is very unethical. It sounds to me as if you're trying to drown them, then telling them you can save them if they take one of your outrageously priced online courses."

That was meant to be an example of one time you might consider writing for a straight fee to have that published manuscript in order to get a better deal the next time. This may have been confusing. It was not my intention to say that it is impossible to get an agent for a first time writer.

For anyone else who felt this way, I apologize that I didn't make my point clearer, and will continue to try quite hard to support writers and hope that you will continue to trust the information I bring to you in this ezine.
 
Warmly,

Pam White

P.S. – Due to computer malfunctions with my email account I am having trouble accessing and responding to emails. Please be patient and I'll figure it out somehow!

P.P. S. - Still trying to decide about taking the Art of the Restaurant Review course? For less than half of your first assignment's pay you will learn inside information on what you must know to get the jobs and assignments, how to remain anonymous, ways to memorize six entire four-course meals, resources for expanding into reviewing wine, and how to get started without any experience at all!

Here's the scoop: http://tinyurl.com/62ndz4 . Register now for this six-week, four phone call, course that starts September 8. Anyone can join the class, with its low price of $65 per student. Register today!

********************************************

2. TEN COMMON MISTAKES PROOFREADERS MUST WATCH FOR by James Hamilton

There are certain mistakes writers make frequently, and it's important that proofreaders look out for these. Here are ten of the most common...

1. Confusing 'its' (meaning belonging to it) with 'it's' (short for it is). The former never requires an apostrophe; the latter always does.

2. Assuming that 'there' at the start of a sentence always takes a singular verb. This common mistake comes from the erroneous belief that 'there' is the subject of the sentence, when in fact it is just an adverb. So you should write, 'There is a tree in the town square' but, 'There are lots of trees in the park.'

3. Confusing 'your' (meaning belonging to you) with 'you're' (short for 'you are'). So it should be, 'This is your computer' but, 'You're always welcome in this house.'

4. Getting the apostrophe in the wrong place in expressions such as women's refuge and people's choice. Many writers, if they use an apostrophe at all in these constructions, put it after the 's'. This is incorrect. The phrase is short for 'refuge of the women' or 'choice of the people', so the apostrophe needs to go before the 's'.

5. Incorrectly inserting an apostrophe in plural nouns, e.g. orange's, potato's, volcano's. In Britain this is sometimes called the greengrocer's apostrophe, after the reputed habit of fruit and vegetable sellers of doing this. Simple plurals never require apostrophes.

6. Omitting the vocative comma in speech. When someone is addressed directly in speech, the name (or other term) they are addressed by must always be offset by a comma. So you should write, 'What's up, Alan?' or, 'Can you help me, officer?'

7. Confusing 'who' and 'whom'. The former is used in the subjective case, the latter in the objective. Thus, you should write, 'Who is driving?' (he is driving), but 'Whom are you following?' (you are following him). In speech and casual writing today 'whom' is falling out of use, but in formal writing such as business reports, the distinction should still be preserved.

8. Using 'should of' instead of 'should have'. This mistake is becoming more and more common, presumably because one sounds like the other. 'Should of' is bad grammar, however, and it is always wrong.

9. Confusing 'to', 'too' and 'two'. These words all sound alike but have quite different meanings. 'To' is a preposition and it is used in phrases such as, 'Give the book to me.' 'Too' means 'also' or 'as well', as in, 'I liked that book too.' Finally, 'two' is, of course, the number after one.

10. Confusing 'loose' with 'lose'. The former is the opposite of 'tight', while the latter is the opposite of 'win'. So it would be correct to write, 'This knot is loose', but, 'Against superior opposition it was inevitable that the team would lose.'

These are all common problem areas among non-expert writers. As a proofreader you need to be constantly on the alert for them -- and obviously, you should try to avoid committing these mistakes yourself!

TOO MANY BOOKS, TOO LITTLE SPACE

I received  a new shipment of MAKE MONEY AS A FOOD WRITER IN SIX LESSONS. This is the spiral-bound print version of the original (as in first ever) online food writing class.  It's a fun progress through the different areas of food writing, plus assignments that challenge writers, and lots of "bright ideas" for selling more, earning faster.

I need to get these books moving! As an added incentive for purchasing a copy of this book I have two specials this week:

#1 – Get a copy of the print book, plus a copy of two self-guided courses, Pitch that Column and Writing Articles that sell for a total of $44 including shipping. This offer saves you 50 % when compared with buying these items separately. Use this link to buy: 

http://www.food-writing.com/foodwritingclass/page4.html

#2 – One copy of the print book, plus the course Writing Articles that Sell for only $31 including shipping.  Use this link to take advantage of this offer:  

http://www.food-writing.com/foodwritingclass/page5.html

***********************************************************************

3. 5 DO'S AND 5 DON'TS OF REVIEWING RESTAURANTS by Pamela White

After reviewing restaurants for several years, I've collected some of my best advice for new and experienced restaurant reviewers. Here are five of the most important things to do and five of the worst gaffes a reviewer can make.

1.  Obviously you need a big appetite and a stomach of steel, but it's more important to realize that a restaurant is a business. There are many jobs at stake in each place you review so treat your job seriously and be extremely ethical. Do not give rave reviews when they are not warranted but neither should you use your reviewer status to show off your own expertise or to make fun of the individuals that work there just because you've found a clever turn of phrase.

2.  Learn to memorize enormous amounts of information – dish names, ingredients, flavors, colors, prices, décor, and quality of service. With practice, you can learn to memorize six meals of four courses without having to run off to the restroom to take notes on each taste of each dish. This will mean you will miss out on some of the conversation as you run through the dishes in your mind, but eating out is now a job for you, so the social aspects of it take a back seat. Learning to keep all the bits and pieces of your dining experience in your mind will help keep you anonymous as the food critic.

3.  Gather up tools that will help you be successful. A cell phone that takes photos, small notebooks and pens or pencils, a copy of the menu downloaded from the restaurant's website, and a digital recorder will keep your reviews sharp, focused and honest. Use your cell phone to pretend you are taking photos of your guests for a special occasion. Place a small recorder under the edge of your plate and speak about the menu or your meals with your guests. These will provide memory triggers for you when you sit down to write.

4.  Call ahead to get the days and hours the restaurant is open. Do this several weeks ahead of your visit, and have a chat with the person taking your reservation or helping you with information. Ask about special needs that potential diners might have. Just don't be so obvious that they become suspicious that you are the critic.

5. Study food so that you know what you are talking about. If you read a lot of restaurant reviews like I do, you will soon see that many are clueless. "The sauce tasted like it was a sauce made of soy," "The flaming goat cheese was made of feta cheese but was not Goat Cheese." These are real quotes that make the authors seem unqualified for the job of reviewing restaurants. The sauce was either soy sauce or it wasn't; goat cheese is not a brand name but rather cheese made from goat's milk. Never stop studying, cooking and tasting food from around the world so you know what it is and how it should be prepared.

And now for the gaffes to avoid:

1. Don't stand out! Show up on time for your reservation, dress appropriately for the restaurant. Act like the typical, average, unremarkable diner. Ask for wine recommendations when it's appropriate, but don't try to teach the chef or sommelier how to do their jobs better. Remain anonymous.

2. Don't be a softie when writing up a review just because the waitress gave you freebies. No matter how hard to try to be anonymous, some restaurants will be prepared. Enjoy the freebies if you must, but don't allow them to bribe you into a glowing review if the other diners in the dining room are having a hard time getting their food served warm.

3. Don't be cruel either, if you just happened to review a place when you are in a bad mood. Rise above the spat you had with your spouse on the way to the restaurant. It's not about you, instead it's about the true experience of the average diner in that restaurant.

4. Don't get so caught in having fun and laughing with the friends you've brought along on the review or the next morning you'll wake up and realize you have no clue about what dishes you ate, the flavors you savored or the service you experienced. And you can't write a review about how funny your college bud, Clyde, was. Stay focused.

5.  Don't be shy. Ask for a  copy of the menu (or take it), send food back if it's bad, make special requests when appropriate, bring children to see how well a restaurant adapts to kids' ordering.

These are only a few tips to get your restaurant reviewing career underway, but if you follow them you'll be off to a delicious start.

*********************************************
CLASSIFIED ADS:

FIVE MINUTES IS ALL YOU NEED…to phone a friend, peel potatoes for
dinner, pick the kids up from school, or write a few words that
could earn you more money. THE FIVE MINUTE WRITER shows you

how to write fillers, mini-articles, quizzes, hints, recipes, and much
more. Find out more here:
http://foodwrite1.fillerfact.hop.clickbank.net/

Become a Children's Writer by Jill McDougall, author of over 100
children's books. She offers advice on how to write for children of
different ages, and includes a list of publishers looking for
children's books. For more information:
http://foodwrite1.jmcdougall.hop.clickbank.net/

Order "Travel Writing Blueprints" today and in just 21 days you could
be packing for a luxury, all expenses paid press trip . . . you'll
even get paid to go! Learn to write travel articles and get them
published, get free press trips to spas and tourist locations. Go
here: http://foodwrite1.wp3033773.hop.clickbank.net/

Take Better Digital Photos by Tony Pages, professional photographer.
His Photo Toolbox Of Creative Tools And Techniques will immediately
improve your digital images. 135 Pages, 130 Quality Colour Photos.
Purchase comes with bonuses. Price: $18.77.
Go to: http://foodwrite1.zamba2090.hop.clickbank.net/

NEED SOME WRITER SUPPORT? GO TO WWW.FOOD-WRITING.COM
FOR SELF-GUIDED CLASSES. BUY TODAY, DOWNLOAD TODAY, EARN MORE TOMORROW.
Don't miss our bestseller "Pitch that Column" here:
http://www.food-riting.com/welcometofoodwriting/pitchcolumn.html

******************************************************

4. MARKETS AND JOBS FOR FOOD WRITERS

Markets and Jobs will be back next issue
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



"I eat merely to put food out of my mind." - N.F. Simpson