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Cycle ride from England to India and Nepal- writing book

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Started 4 years ago by awelch
Latest reply from Trisha

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awelch
Member

Hi, I have 7 journals and 22,000 photos from my 15,000km ride from England to Nepal and I want to write it up into 1 or 2 books.

I have many sub-stories which make the story more than just a cycle ride like staying in Ashrams in India, attending a Rajput wedding, sleeping in temples and meeting holy men.

Some questions:
1. My writing style changed from the beginning of the journey to now. At first it was more a diary and introspective 'confidence' whereas later on it became much more about the details and conversations and people. What do I do when writing stuff up? How do I deal with this? e.g. Do I re-write it all in one retrospective style or do I present it in diary form so you can see how my style (and I) change along the way.

2. I was thinking of using a mind map to organise the story into chapters (if I end up writing it like this where chapters are appropriate).

3. What I really want to do is get my story down, warts and all in the most truest and rawest form I can without pulling any punches.

4. My memory has possibly faded regarding the details of things at the beginning of the trip... how do I account for this? Any thoughts?

5. I want to include the most interesting stories because there is too much material and some of my experiences may be more interesting to me than to the general reader. Tips for achieving this?

That's it for now, thanks

Andy

Posted 4 years ago #
Amandah Blackwell
Moderator

I like your website -- great articles!

You have a lot of materials so you could take it in different directions. Here are my suggestions:

1) I think it's great that your writing style changed. Many people "hold onto" their style. It's good to change it up now and again. With that said you could write a few books from your personal/introspective viewpoint -- write it in a diary/journal format. I think this would give people a "connection" to you and your journey.

2) Since your writing style changed, you could also write your books from the retrospective viewpoint. You could begin by telling/showing readers how you began your journey, which was more of an introspective viewpoint. Then tell/show them how your writing style changed. Incorporate your conversations with people and the details of the cities your visited. Bring readers into your story so they feel as if they are sitting next to you partaking in your conversations with the locals. What would they see and smell? What happened in a particular day?

You could touch on the politics of each country. You could speak about the culture. How do people dress? Is there high poverty? Is the city busy?

3) Do not limit yourself. If you have great material use it in any way, shape, or form. There's a market for everyone.

4) Yep! Details fade. I would re-read your information to see if that brings back memories. Sit with your information for some time and let your mind wander. You would be surprised how the memories will come back to you!

The next time you travel, consider bringing a recorder with you. This way you can record your thoughts as well as write them down.

5) You can only decide which experiences to include in your books. Again, I recommend re-reading your information. If you find that you are drawn to particular experiences then focus on them. You'll know which experiences to include by the way your react to them. Perhaps you get a "fluttery" feeling in your gut or you are just bored to tears.

6) Have you thought about creating short form videos? You could record some of your experiences and put them on YouTube (incorporate your photos). Check out Trisha's interview with Lisa Lambden from The Travel Channel Academy.

7) Since you have a ton of photos, you could create a "picture book" or "coffee table book." What about ethnography? Check out my post on ethnography.

I hope this helped...

Posted 4 years ago #
Trisha
Key Master

Hi Andy - I agree with Rebecca - great site! And what a really cool trip.

I have only a couple of suggestions...that involve doing a couple of different things with all of the material you have....

For example, I don't see why you couldn't use parts and pieces of it for a few different short articles on specific places you traveled through - articles that could be published either as part of a "series" or just as individual pieces by an interested publication - contact a few travel publication editors to see if they would be interested in either a series or an article, and of what length - then you can go from there when you write;

There are also tour operators who specialize in India and Nepal, and they might be interested in purchasing some of your photos and articles as content for their own websites and promotions;

You could do as Rebecca suggested (her #7) and produce a photo book with short descriptions for the photos rather than stories;

You could put it all down on paper chronologically - not worrying about your evolving style of writing - and let an editor take a look at it to give you feedback on what direction to take (never underestimate the value of a good book editor!)

Good luck - and whatever you do please let us know - we'd love to feature the results on our site to help you promote it!

Posted 4 years ago #

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