The Case for Fact-Checking: Why Every Food Writer Needs It for Their Book
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When I got my first editorial internship, I imagined getting assignments for new East Bay Area restaurants and interviewing fascinating characters around town.I’d been an editor at my college newspaper and could write a good feature article. I was ready to wow my new colleagues with my skills because surely, even though fact-checking would be part of the internship, I wouldn’t have to do it for long.
Oh, what a dummy I was.
Pretty much every shift was a collective of calling local restaurants to confirm menu items and holiday hours. But what I wasn’t expecting was how much fact-checking would inform my writing.
At first, it seemed like there wasn’t a lot that had to be checked.
Surely, the writer wouldn’t get the name of the Native American tribe incorrect for this feature. But they did.
The ingredients for that cocktail are so long, it seems like the writer must have them correct. Except, they were wrong, and the article will come out in May and this drink won’t even be on the menu then.
And this provided me with this general belief: If other careful writers can get the facts wrong, I can too. But I can also be vigilant in getting them right.
Even if you’re writing a cookbook or a memoir, there are key components of your story you’ll miss. Your memory or general knowledge will assume you’re operating with everything you need. However, by approaching your work through fact-checking eyes, you’ll unlock a deeper level of storytelling just by being curious.
Creates Context
Even if you’re writing a story you believe to be one you know, you still need to approach it as a fact-checker.
For instance, if you’re writing a food memoir about your family’s history in New Orleans, there would be facts sprinkled in there — and not just dates and family names.
That neighborhood market Nana went to when she was a little girl, what was it called? And what were the cross streets? She mentioned it was only a few blocks away from her Aunt Rhonda’s house, but I’m finding multiple food markets around there.
The simple inclusion of your Nana’s local market becomes a hunt on Google maps, family members and newspaper and magazine articles. Because it matters what side of town she lived on, what the neighborhood makeup was, and how that influenced your family’s relationship with food.
A quick search for “old food market New Orleans” turned up an article from Edible New Orleans about the creation of food markets in the city and how at one point, “the French Market once sat at the heart of a network of 34 public food markets in New Orleans—one of the largest municipal market systems in the country”.
So, yes — it matters which market your Nana went to growing up, but also, it’s worth exploring how the other 33 food markets could have played a part in your family’s culinary history and New Orleans as a whole.
People forget things easily, so just because your family and friends didn’t mention something, doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. By doing your own research, you can revisit sources with additional questions to build out your story, so you’re giving the audience the full context of a story.
Adds Layers to Your Food Stories
Whether you’re writing a cookbook or food memoir, it’s hard to see more than one point of view at a time. But if you’re approaching the work from a fact-checking perspective, you’ll add layers to your recipes and food stories that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
The traditions you grew up with may have different roots than you thought. Or in your sourdough dessert book (oh, it’s definitely a thing), you could add tidbits of San Francisco bread-making history in your headnotes and essays. Whatever you’re writing about, there are things to fact-check. And if you don’t think so, look harder.
Don’t assume people know what you know, and don’t be afraid to question what you think you know.
With adding key facts, you’ll build out your world with a deeper understanding of the stakes for your story—be it a cookbook or food memoir. We often become lazy with what we know, so staying curious about a subject can tease out facts you wouldn’t have thought to search out.
Keeping an Open Mind
As you use your fact-checking skills to write more robust stories, be open to what you may find. Don’t only search for facts that will support your story, but look for the counter-argument. If your goal is to write a book people will want to read, it’s worth it for you and your audience to be as thorough as possible.
Be willing to be wrong. It’s only when you release preconceived ideas about exactly how your story should be, that you uncover what your story could be. And it’s often better than what you imagined in the first place.
