Understanding Proper Cooking Skills

Interesting Story Prompts For A Food Writer

7 October 2021

Lois Young

As a food writer, you may sometimes struggle to come up with new and interesting topics. You can only write about a favorite meal or a life-changing glass of wine so many times. If you're looking for some inspiration, here are a few prompts, along with brief explanations, to help spark your creativity and get the stories flowing.

Tell a story about school lunch.

Do you remember eating school lunch as a kid? Most people do, which means any story about your school lunch experience will be quite relatable. It will also bring up feelings of nostalgia for a lot of people, which makes for a great story. You could tell a story about your favorite school lunch or about the worst one. You could lament about the tasteless side dishes. Or, tell a story about what you'd do differently if making school lunches was up to you. 

Tell a story about dining alone.

Dining alone at a restaurant is something so many people are scared to do for some reason. And yet, actually doing it can feel so empowering. If you have not dined out alone recently, go do it, and then write a story about the experience. This does not have to be pure non-fiction. You can embellish a little, add some drama to the storyline, and exercise your artistic license a bit.

Tell a story about a dish from multiple perspectives.

Here's a really unique one: tell the story about the same dish several times in the same piece. Each time you tell the story, do so from a different perspective. For instance, you could follow the same plate of spaghetti and meatballs. First, tell the story of the chef who makes it. Then, tell the story of the server who brings it to the table. Finally, tell the story of the customer who buys it. Insert some humor along the way, and you can have a really interesting and artistic story.

Tell a story about someone who grows food.

Instead of focusing on preparing and eating food, tell a story about someone who grows the food. This could be the story of a farmer who raises eggs, or of a backyard grower who spends their whole summer growing herbs for the community. The sky is the limit with this one!

Telling food stories does not have to get old. Think outside the box, and use the ideas above for unique inspiration. 

Look into something like nonya.global for more food writing inspiration.  

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