Ten Things You Should Consider Before You Decide to Become A Travel Writer.
I read somewhere recently that Mick Jagger and Cate Blanchette were once asked what other profession they would of pursued if they hadn’t done what they currently do. Without any hesitation both answered,
“ We would have been travel writers.”
I have come to this profession rather late in life even though I always had a secret desire to pursue what is undoubtedly a ‘dream job.’
I spent years working as a copywriter and creative director and even though it paid the rent, contributed to my children’s education and kept those mortgage payments flowing to the bank, I was never really satisfied.
When advertising no longer held any appeal I was fortunate enough to be asked by a travel publication to write a piece on a small island in Indonesia.
Suddenly I found this harder than dreaming up a clever slogan for a consumer product for I realized that, whoever read the piece might just consider taking a journey to the destination I had just written about and that anything I said would be treated as ‘gospel’.
A few years into the job and in between writing a novel each year, I have had to developed a sense of responsibility and moreover, a new way to write so that my words do the destination justice and hopefully leads the reader on a journey of discovery.
So, for what its worth, here are my ten things you should know before throwing caution to the wind and chasing that ‘dream profession; but please keep in mind, I am still a novice!
MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY WRITE.
Most commissioned pieces are anywhere between 800 to 1200 words long. Within that short article you will have to, capture the ambience, explain how to get there, what to do once you are there. What to eat, where to sleep, what not to do …sometimes the list is endless. If you can’t craft a piece and cover almost everything in the allotted word count no editor will accept you.
RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.
Before go make sure you know. Stepping into an unfamiliar environment without at least some rudimentary knowledge of the destination will leave you high and dry. Work out a strategy before you arrive at the destination for if you do, you are halfway there.
DEVELOP YOUR POWERS OF OBSERVATION.
“See, and see more.” as Bill Bryson once said. The great travel writers of the world have developed this ability and in doing so are able to take you on magical journeys where the reader can ‘see’ the destination they are writing about.
READ ALL THE GREAT TRAVEL WRITERS.
The likes of Wallace, Twain, Young, Rabin and Marco Polo as well as hundreds of others who have captured the essence of their journeys through their fine writing. Ask yourself the question. Why do millions of people read their work?
Aspire to write like them.
TELL THE TRUTH.
Even if you are writing a ‘commissioned ‘ piece on a destination, a hotel or resort and it doesn’t live up to your expectations you have a duty to convey those particular shortcomings. Remember future travellers will be relying on your observations even if the owner of said resort might be a little miffed.
BE A COPIOUS NOTE TAKER.
It’s amazing how quickly a memory can fade. Something you have seen or experienced in a morning can, oh so quickly be forgotten by the afternoon so, write it down, for without your notes you will flounder like a fish out of water.
CHECK YOUR FACTS.
The information in an article has to be correct. Phone, e-mail and street addresses must be spot on as readers will be relying on these facts when they eventually arrive at the place that you have so glowingly promoted.
LIVING BY DEADLINES.
Editors, TV stations and the like are relying on you to file a story on time, on budget and all within the brief. Miss a deadline and you might want to consider a career change to say…plumbing.
FIND A FIXER.
A fixer is the lifeblood of any journalist or travel writer. A good fixer will guide you through the ups and downs of an unfamiliar environment. Permits for no go areas, dealing with local officials, transport, out of the way areas …the list is endless. Having a great fixer can result in a great article.
BE A PASSIONATE (and a responsible) TRAVELLER.
Travel is a wonderful education and, if you are someone who absorbs the experience like a sponge and want to tell others about it, you are well on your way. However, never forget that when on foreign soil you have a responsibility to the local populace to ‘do the right thing,” after all it is you who are the visitor.
Finally don’t expect to earn oodles of money doing this, but console yourself when sitting scribbling on a beach in Thailand on a Monday morning that it doesn’t get any better than that!
Paul v Walters is an international best selling author of several novels and short stories. When not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali he scribbles for several international travel and vox pop journals.
His latest novel Scimitar was released in September 2016 and is now in wide release.
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Komentar
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #25
Robert Cormack Thanks for stopping by Robert. Travel has been my 'passion' since I first 'set off' at age 16 and really I have never really stopped ! i guess I have been fortunate to have lived my life this way . So much to see....so little time!!
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #24
Randy Keho I bet ....on my way!!!!
Randy Keho
7 tahun yang lalu #23
Robert Cormack
7 tahun yang lalu #22
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #21
Thank you Lindsay EmBree Gilis are as you say far away even though they are no longer the 'hidden gems' but one must take from them what one needs !
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #20
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #19
Thank you John White, MBA much appreciated
John White, MBA
7 tahun yang lalu #18
Ken Boddie
7 tahun yang lalu #17
This is an impossible question, Deb Helfrich, for a lady to ask a gentleman, especially since I am aging so disgracefully. In my case, however, the transition from 'Casanova' to 'scribble-over' (refer #2 below) has been imposed upon me by old age rather than wisdom, fueled by a receding hairline and a grizzly grey metamorphosis.
Lisa Gallagher
7 tahun yang lalu #16
I vote for you Paul Walters!!
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #15
thanks Praveen Raj Gullepalli finding fixers isn't that hard ...finding good ones is the challenge !
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #14
Thanks Deb Helfrich good idea.... pick me, pick me!!
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #13
Thanks Lisa Gallagher you're a gem!!!
Lisa Gallagher
7 tahun yang lalu #12
Dean Owen
7 tahun yang lalu #11
Oh I love the truffle chapters....
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #10
the milk maiden certainly has a ring to it Dean Owen watch this space !
Dean Owen
7 tahun yang lalu #9
Well I am certainly looking forward to your "A Year in Bali" which doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Perhaps "In the Shadow of Mount Agung" or "Dancing with a Bare Breasted Balinese Milk Maiden"
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #8
Hi Dean Owen I did know Peter Mayle. I joined Ogilvy & Mather in London as a relatively junior copywriter and he was very much the senior! He scribbled a slim volume , A is for Advertising which was an inspiration for all of us wanting to get OUT of the business. H did exactly that and toddled off to France and wrote A year in Provence and the rest as they say is ..history!!
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #7
Sarah, you are dead right . I'll meet you on that beach in Croatia and we can compare notes !!
Sarah Elkins
7 tahun yang lalu #6
Kevin Pashuk
7 tahun yang lalu #5
Dean Owen
7 tahun yang lalu #4
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #3
touche !!
Ken Boddie
7 tahun yang lalu #2
Paul Walters
7 tahun yang lalu #1