One of the many paths you can take in dietetics is to become a nutrition writer.
This post will show you how you can get started as a student. Even if you have zero writing experience.
Let’s dive in!
Becoming a Nutrition Writer
Writing is a great way to work with nutrition as a student. You can share evidence-based information, build a skill (even a business), and start establishing yourself as an authority in the nutrition space.
Now unfortunately, students think they need RD after their name before they can type a single word.
That’s because…
You Think You’re an Imposter
This is the main thing holding dietetic students back from becoming a nutrition writer. You think you need to be an experienced dietitian before you can say or write anything online about nutrition.
Some influencers, gurus and coaches on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube didn’t get that memo.
Other things that might be holding you back:
- Not knowing how to get started
- Not sure what to write about
- Time (or lack of it)
- Perfectionism
- Self-confidence
All beginning writers share these problems. But! You can demolish these problems and start your career as a nutrition writer now.
Here’s how, step by step:
Step 1: Decide what kind of writer you want to be
“Writer” is such a broad term.
Novelists are writers.
Blog writers are writers.
Copywriters are writers.
If you write words on paper, on Twitter, in text messages…you can be a writer.
So, the first step to become a nutrition writer is to decide what kind of writing you want to do. Think about your interests.
Do you like educating people? Maybe you want to write informative articles.
Making recipes? Develop your recipes and put them together in an ebook.
Is marketing your jam? Become a nutrition or health and wellness copywriter!
You can get even more specific and write about what makes you excited. For example, I’m a copywriter, but I love video. So, I made my main service video copy.
Once you know what kind of writer you want to be, you’re ready for step 2.
This next step will separate you from 95% of people who never become writers.
Step 2: Write
A lot of aspiring writers don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because they don’t write.
Do you know any successful writers who haven’t written anything? No.
To become a nutrition writer, you need to take action. That action is: write.
Start by building the habit. Block off 20 minutes a day to write. No distractions.
It’s hard to sit down and write a 1000 word blog in one sitting. I need 4-6 hours to write a long blog post, but I don’t have 4-6 uninterrupted hours.
Instead of one long session, I can break up my writing into 20 minutes. Write 10 words, 100 words per session. It doesn’t matter.
Your writing adds up and over time, you will have the piece you wanted.
Also, it’s fine if you don’t always write about nutrition. You can still build a writing habit and you help yourself get comfortable with writing.
It’s easier to do things with practice.
Now, this final step is usually the hardest, but the most rewarding.
Step 3: Distribute your writing
This is the step where you officially become a nutrition writer. You know what you want to write, you wrote it, and now it’s time to share it with the world.
This is the step most new writers are afraid of. Dietetic students usually worry about sharing the wrong information or being challenged.
Whenever someone asks me a nutrition question, I freeze like I’m seeing the Matrix for the first time.
In my head, I panic and shift through everything I’ve ever learned for the right information. Because I’m still a student, I feel even more pressure to be right because I don’t think I have the credibility yet.
But, we have Google to help us fact check. I’m in my final year of my dietetic program, and I still Google things like “vegetables high in iron”.
On top of that, we also have our textbooks, our peers, or teachers, and PubMed.
If you’re still worried, just remember. There are people talking about juice cleanses and 1300kcal diets out there. You know enough to write and publish your content.
Where do you publish though?
These are the easiest places to share your writing:
- Someone (like an RD) else’s blog
- Twitter, IG, Facebook or LinkedIn
- Revue (connected to your Twitter)
- Medium
- Typeshare
- Your own blog
I’ve written about nutrition on IG, Medium, and on other people’s and my own blogs. I also use Twitter, LinkedIn and an email newsletter to write about scriptwriting and video marketing for my business.
Experiment with platforms and find the ones you like best. Then, keep writing, keep publishing, and then you are a writer!
A Word of Caution
For some writers, they want to write for fun. Others want to turn it into a career.
If you’re in the second category, you should build a portfolio. To do that, you need your name on your writing.
Some writers may ghostwrite. This means they write without the credit.
As a student writer, blogging for someone else is great way to get practice and have someone check your work first. Two or three posts is enough practice though.
I advise against becoming someone’s long-term ghostwriter unless you get paid. That’s because writing is time consuming. You should get more than practice if you want to build a writing career.
A good alternative is to try a mentorship. Liz Jalkiewicz (The Dietitian Editor) runs a blogging mentorship program for dietetic students to help them become more effective writers.
I did this program and I can’t recommend it enough. Liz is incredibly supportive and her program will help you build the skills and confidence you need to start writing.
Takeaway
Even if you’re a student with zero experience, you can become a nutrition writer if you follow these steps.
TLDR:
Step 1: Decide what kind of writer you want to be
Step 2: Write
Step 3: Distribute your writing