Author: Sreelata Menon
Do you have a passion for food, art or literature? Does a job that pays you to indulge in your sensitive palate or fetish for art and literary works sound like the dream job you always wanted? Then here’s how you can become a food, art or literary critic…
Skills required to be a critic
Good writing skills
- A passion for food, art or literature (as the case may be)
- Some experience in the relevant field – that is cooking, restaurants, art galleries or literature
- People skills will go a long way in getting your foot in the door
- Dollops of patience and a positive mind set
If you think you have it in you, be aware about the exact nature of the job you aspire to have….a critic’s job is far from easy! In fact it is extremely challenging.
But don’t let that deter you! Here is how you can carve your niche in this field:
- Find your forte first. Editors are likely to scout for experts in the relevant field and will be able to tell whether or not you are in a position to critically review a restaurant, an artist’s work or a piece of literature, which is why an education in the field of cooking, hospitality, art appreciation and literature will serve you well. Since you are going to talk about the chef’s panache with a certain cuisine or an artist’s style of painting or sculpting and a writer’s way with words it is only fair that you should have knowledge about the subject matter yourself.
- Read reviews by other writers to see how they write. Do not do this with the objective of imitating anyone but try and see how people in the field work. Ideally this exercise should help you to develop your own style.
- Devour your work! Depending on what you aspire to be, eat at as many places as you can, visit art galleries and exhibitions, read books and articles and write about your experiences. Gradually you will have your own collection of reviews which you can dip in to when editors ask for samples of your work.
- Talk to other critics. This will give you leads about how to find opportunities to showcase your work, overcome roadblocks and do the right type of networking. When others share their experiences with you take notes and refer to them often so that you do not make the same mistakes. Just talking to old hands in the field will also help you get a better perspective of whether this is really what you want to do.
- In the beginning look for work by writing to your local newspaper or magazine. Remember positions for critics – be they food, art or literature – are few and far between. Besides there are many like you who would be aspiring for the job so make sure you keep networking with people in the industry.
- Whenever you send samples of work to editors make sure that they are in the format prescribed by that particular magazine or newspaper. While this may seem like a very small issue think of how delighted an editor would be to see that you have gone to the trouble of looking up their requirements and presented your work in ‘their” format.
- You will come across many people who would like a novice like you to write a good review about their restaurant, art or literature. While the temptation to succumb to their offers will be great remember a good critic never compromises on quality so never rate mediocrity as high quality!
With time and experience all you foodies, art lovers and book worms should be able to net a critic’s position with a coveted employer.
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