Foodie Blogger Leaves an Important Lesson about Storytelling

Because of a scheduling conflict, I stumbled into an SXSW panel featuring Seattle-based foodie blogger Molly Wizenberg, who blogs, has her own book, and, in 2009, opened a restaurant with her husband. While I myself am not a foodie blogger, I thought I still might take away something, if even minor, from the presentation since both Molly and I do talk about food to a certain capacity.

To my surprise, she ended up conveying one of the most honest and humbling takeaways from all the panels I attended, and the tips are relevant to anyone, restaurateurs included, who talk about food online.

Molly’s main point was that you have to tell a story. Talking about food isn’t really about the food itself, but about the story surrounding it.

“Don’t tell me what you had for breakfast,” Molly noted, “tell me why it matters.”

She claimed the biggest mistake food bloggers make is just talking about the food. If you mentioned you had a power bar for breakfast, for example, that’s boring.

But when you tie in that you ate it while walking across a bridge, took in smells, etc., it suddenly becomes so much more fascinating. Stories about food can bring back certain memories, and that’s a great way to capture a reader’s attention.

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