Travel-writing tips

2011

I am available to teach travel writing classes (day, weekend, a week). Contact me if you would like me to do this in your area (see www.kiwitravelwriter.com)

The next one day workshop I’m presenting is in Wellington, New Zealand  (see more)

January 26, 2009

Keen on travel – like to write?  As travel editor of a newspaper (now defunct so please don’t send me stories) here is a list of what we wanted from people who wanted to send us submissions. I hope some of these will be helpful as good tips for you travel writing.

This is what we asked for: Firstly we required authentic travel articles from people with a passion for travel.

In other words, you have actually been there, done that. If you haven’t actually got the T-shirt, you at least have real experience to write about, not information gleaned (plagiarised) from the internet or travel book. They are great for research before you go – we want to hear about your adventures after the trip; good and bad.

So what makes a good travel article? The goal is to transfer the emotional experience to the reader.

Avoid long scenery bits and a day by day, sight by sight, blow-by-blow account of your journey. 

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——————A whole booklet of tips——————-

Linda during a trip to New Zealand

I was talking, via email, with Linda Ballou (author of Wai-nani-High Chiefess of Hawai’i) recently and thought you too would like a copy of her  How to Make Travel Writing Work for You (click here to download the 12 pages in PDF format) and she tells me she plans to get a travel collection Lost Angel Walkabout out by the end of 2009 which for all us travellers should be a good read.

www.LindaBallouAuthor.comhttp://wwwlindaballouauthor.blogspot.com/

————————————————————————————————————————–Travel writing tips from guest writer Travel Betty

February 1, 2009

Thanks for your interest in having me be a part of your travel writing series. How cool! I’m not actually a professional travel writer and so far, my writing only appears on my Travel Betty blog, but I can offer a little advice.

First off, I think a great way to start travel writing IS to start your own blog (I may be a bit biased). This way you can find your own voice and start building up a resource of useful articles for your readers. You can see what resonates with them and what doesn’t. And it’s a good way to make contacts with other, more established travel writers. If they see you’re committed, then they’re more willing to help you out.
I attended a travel writing workshop at the Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA a couple of years back. It’s one of the top two travel workshops in the US, (the other being in Key West, FL). In fact, there have been a few ex-students that turned into bona fide, published travel writers. I found the workshop really insightful and it was a great way to make contacts, since it attracts an impressive assortment of professionals. It happens every August and also has a travel photography component.

(NOTE from the kiwi travel writer: I give travel writing workshops in New Zealand)

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Interview with a Travel Writer…Heather Hapeta 30th May 2007

Today’s interviewee is New Zealand travel writer Heather Hapata. Heather’s articles have been published in the Sydney Morning Herald, NZ Listener, and Morning Calm (Korean Air’s in-flight magazine), she writes a monthly travel column for Homestyle magazine, and has her first book, Naked in Budapest, due for release in June.

Hi Heather and thanks for stopping by My Year of Getting Published.

1. Did you always want to be a writer? How did you get started writing?

I was an avid reader as a child and always dreamt of being a writer – I thought how fabulous it would be to give such joy as I had from book. However it wasn’t until I was in my fifties that I had the time and confidence to give  a try – after all when you are fifty-plus surely it’s time to do what you really want to do.

READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW HERE

PS the woman who wrote this attended one of my travel writing workshops!

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Sure, you could write a compelling story. But why, when you could just as easily write a snoozer? David Farley explains.

Despite popular belief, becoming a travel writer doesn’t always require moving to a village in Provence or restoring a villa in Italy. In fact, it doesn’t even mean you have to write good travel tales with a deep sense of place and an intriguing angle or storyline. See, you can simply write bad travel stories. READ MORE HERE

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Travel sharpens awareness of our surroundings; the different, the unusual and it’s these things, the view of a new eye that makes great photos. As a travel writer and author I take many photos during my first few days in another country, a different culture.(www.kiwitravelwriter.com )

If you want your photos to be more than a mere record of your travels try these tips.

1. Keep your camera with you : some of my ‘best photos’ are the ones I missed by not having my camera read
2. Filling the frame adds impact to many pictures
3. Eliminate the unessential, cut the clutter. Don’t try to grab it all.
4. Early morning and late afternoon have the most favourable light.
5. Avoid midday as overhead sun drains the colour.
6. Simple blocks of bright colour make bold statements
7. Look at other people’s photos to see what works, what catches your eye. read more tips here