Whatever your writing aspirations or current skill level, this four-week course teaches you the basics of engaging, entertaining, and informative food writing – because some meals are just so good, or bad, that you’ve got to say something. Maybe you want to warn others about a gristly steak through a review on a platform like Yelp. Or maybe you want to shout a soup’s praises in a blog post or on Facebook. Maybe still, you’d like to try your hand at food writing for publication in a magazine.

This course discusses the logistics and ethics of food and drink writing, provides an overview of the genre’s conventions, and examines award-winning examples. Give and receive feedback on classroom works and write one polished review.

• March 1: This session covers conventions of the genre, basic writing, effective and ineffective reviews, and how to write a first draft. 
• March 8: Participants discuss the ethics and etiquette of writing fair reviews, examine examples, complete writing exercises, and go over drafts as a group.
• March 15: The class instructor discusses basic rhetoric, offers examples of how rhetoric is used in food writing and how you can use it. Students engage in writing exercises and review one another’s drafts.
• March 22: Learn about available publishing options like Yelp and other websites, blogs, periodicals, and social media platforms, as well as how to use them. The instructor discusses building a portfolio, re-emphasizes key points from earlier sessions, and reviews final student drafts.

This class is taught by a graduate student in the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Register below for one or all in this series.