6 Ways to improve your FoodTribe and DriveTribe articles

We all love DriveTribe and FoodTribe. One site helps us unleash our inner petrolhead, the other helps us unleash our inner (terrible in my case) chef and foodie knowledge. Some people though, especially the ones who are new to our platforms that we as creators call home, may find it a bit daunting and can find it hard to get their work and hard effort out to a larger audience. So to help, I have compiled my 5 favourite tips to help people get on their feet for writing here on DriveTribe and Food Tribe!

TRY NOT TO WAFFLE ON (KEEP IT CLEAR AND FLOWING)

One of the main reasons articles may fail is not their topic but mainly how they read. I personally am known for dragging things out longer than they should be (waffling on as it's also known as here in the U.K.) in person. This can break up the article and make readers become bored with what their reading. Another thing to look out for as well as this is clarity. Being clear about things also helps the reader flow through the article without having odd parts that disrupt it.

One way to get over these issues would be to read through your work at least twice before publishing it. The amount of times back in 2016 when I would write something on DriveTribe and not proofread it to make sure it read well. This is especially important when you get into writing longer articles.

Another way to avoid these issues would be to try not to re-use words in the same sentence or sentences that are close together. This is something that is more of a preference as some writers just don't bother with it, and that's fine. Personally though I like to make sure I find words that are unalike in a following sentence (if possible) so that the reader doesn't get wound up in words and phrases that are repeated time and time again.

PHOTOGRAPHY IS IMPORTANT (BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A PHOTOGRAPHER)

One of the main things that will get your articles noticed is having fantastic photos to accommodate your writing. Now I'm not saying that you have to go out, buy an overly expensive DSLR and train to be a photographer, but there are a few steps you can take to ensure your photography is up there with the best!

You don't need expensive equipment. Seriously, all you should need is a smartphone with a fairly decent camera (which most come with nowadays) and a laptop to edit them on if you don't use your phone.

It's all in the angles. When shooting cars and vehicles, if you are stood level with the car, a good trick to have a go at is to try and shoot lower than your line of sight. This will make the vehicles stand out on the page and look less like you've taken them for a used car listing on eBay. When taking photographs of food, try to go either straight above the item your photographing or a slightly higher 3/4 view of the item.

Here are some examples:

The food images used in the examples above are sourced from a royalty free site. This means you can use them in your articles without infringing copyright, which is something you will want to be weary of. A good way to try and find them is on Google using the advanced search settings.

Finally, try to find a decent program to edit your photos in. My favourite is Adobe's Lightroom. This program is essentially the basic industry standard editing program for photographers and is fantastic when bundled with the amazing Adobe Photoshop in their Photography Plan (£9.99/$9.99 per month).

GRAMMAR. GRAMMAR. GRAMMAR. (I'VE PROBABLY GOT A GRAMMAR MISTAKE IN THIS TITLE.)

Grammar is like the vocal coach of reading. It tells you when to stop, start, take a breath and so much more! It has gotten more and more important in this day and age for aspiring journalists and creators to look out for their grammar. Many people have lost the art of writing with commas, full stops and capital letters and not knowing the difference between 'its' and 'it's', with people relying on their phones to do it for them. So drag out you're old school books and get practising as it isn't that hard to learn and makes your work look much more professional and makes it better to read!

If not for me, do it for John Coleman's sake. Poor man spends all day looking over many of our articles.

Meme credit to Cody Wagner, John Coleman and myself... (Sorry for putting this on here John! It was only a matter of time before I used it in one of my articles.)

Meme credit to Cody Wagner, John Coleman and myself... (Sorry for putting this on here John! It was only a matter of time before I used it in one of my articles.)

If you are having troubles with your spelling and grammar, look at investing in something like Grammarly or just ask! People are always here to help, this is a community at the end of the day. Best to take mistakes on the chin and learn from them in the future.

KEEP IT CATCHY (PRACTICE THE ART OF A GOOD TITLE)

Apart from the aforementioned pictures, one of the first things a reader will notice about your article is the title. For many years this will have been a boring sentence such as '2020 Ford Fiesta review' and as much as it's acceptable, it doesn't necessarily grasp the imagination of the reader. A good way of wording it would be to ask a question like in the following example: 'Is the Fiesta still good after 44 years?' and then put after the question (either in the title or in the article summary) '2020 Ford Fiesta review'.

Even better still, make your summary more interesting by including a sentence such as: 'After 44 years the Ford Fiesta may have become a bit long in the tooth. I review the current 2020 Ford Fiesta to find out if it is still any good.'

IT'S ALL ABOUT QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

For a lot of people, writing on DriveTribe or FoodTribe could be the start of something big for them and for that reason alone, it is best to focus on these early steps to ensure that you have good practice for the future. Now one misconception is that to be noticed on social media platforms such as DriveTribe, FoodTribe or YouTube, is to post as much content as you can as often as you can. Now, this may sometimes work well on YouTube but on platforms like ours, things are somewhat different. First off, if you are serious about committing to writing on either platform, focus on honing in your skills by producing quality articles, videos and content which you have spent a decent amount of time on. This will ensure that you will develop an audience over time that will come to appreciate the work that you do. Not only that, if you were to push out large articles that you have written way too quickly whilst drinking a Red Bull, readers will find your profile confusing when you aren't as well known. It's a case of cater for the demand. As your audience grows, produce more articles.

Now I'm not saying rarely post content. All I am saying, is that things are best to be taken in moderation. Do take your time with articles but that doesn't mean you can't post an update or two in the meantime.

FINALLY, TAKE YOUR TIME AND ENJOY IT!

This is one of the most important things on the list. Your work won't be great if you don't put the time and effort that is needed to make it great. If you get writers block, spend some time away from writing and find something to inspire you. It will take time to get your content out there, but don't rush it and enjoy the journey!

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS TO ADD?

IF SO, POST THEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!