Have you been reluctant to take lessons in writing, watch online seminars or read books on improving your writing? Perhaps you fear that if you are too heavily influenced by outside sources you will lose the originality and raw talent of your own style. Or, that your writing will become like the boring literature they [...]
One of the best things about traveling are the unpredictable situations one gets into. Like when you realize you are in remote little village without any Internet access. While this is great for relaxing and focusing on exploring the surroundings, you might get stressed that you’re neglecting your readers. Especially if your income depends on [...]
For some reason, most people believe (falsely) that they need loads of cash, and a year long sabbatical to write a travel book. Don’t get me wrong, having loads of cash is never a bad thing, but it just isn’t necessary. The most expensive part of travel should be the plane ticket, which hopefully you [...]
Travel writers make great novelists. They have all the ingredients – writing ability, courage and the creative fuel of seeing new places. With this in mind, I thought I’d share a few tips about how to write and sell travel fiction. I now write travel fiction for a living, but writing novels and getting paid [...]
Last year at about this time I wrote a blog post about… …how I spend the last week of every year (as I have for many years) in quiet reflection on what I’ve accomplished during the year that’s just passed… …did I meet all of my goals? Some of them? Am I happy with how [...]
Many of our readers are already familiar with TripBase’s 7 Links Project… …And many have already participated. For those of you who may not have heard of it, the idea is for nominated bloggers to offer their readers a roundup of links to previous posts, one in each of seven categories, as a way of [...]
Years ago, while driving around Norway, my colleague (also a journalist) suddenly announced quite smugly… …“Well…I’ve come up with a title and a first sentence, so my story is done. Now I can relax and enjoy Scandinavia.” At the time, I didn’t quite get what she meant, but over the years, I’ve come to understand. [...]
A few weeks ago, someone I was traveling with lost her luggage… …well, briefly so. We arrived at our baggage carousel at Heathrow, and within five minutes, two out of three of us had our bags. We waited and watched the conveyor belt empty out and as it ground to a halt, it became very [...]
Every writer, whether amateur or pro, has at some point dreamed about the amazing lifestyle of a travel writer. It’s rewarding already just to be able to make your living with your craft, and travel writers get to see some of the most amazing places in the world while doing just that, living what seems [...]
Rejection is a natural part of being a writer. Even those writers and authors who have gone on to achieve international success were, at one point or another, rejected. One of the differences between those who go on to be successful and those who don’t is the willingness to learn from the experience and [...]
Some of us have the good fortune of living in the place we love most in the world… … So that when it comes to writing about that place, all we have to do is look out the window for inspiration. Every time I’m in Italy, my cup runneth over with ideas for articles that [...]
Among us, right now, there could be a garage band as game-changing to the music world as the Beatles were. But chances are we’ll never hear a note they’ll play. Breaking out of the pack or being discovered in any creative arena today is as realistic as a blonde hair/blue eyed Minnesota girl showing up [...]
Welcome to another installment of Ask The Editor! Today I cull once again through the copious questions from my email inbox, and pull another one that I hear frequently enough that it belongs in an FAQ somewhere: Q. Why do my article pitches and guest posting efforts get rejected? Sometimes I don’t even get [...]
New writers and bloggers ask me all the time how I’ve used social media to advance my reach since the launch of Brendan’s Adventures last year. I constantly tell them that I treat social media use like any business would treat advertising. You have to decide if the cost of the advertising is worth the [...]
Are you using Facebook and Twitter to promote your self as a travel writer? Every so often I get an email from someone who asks me why I haven’t responded to their Facebook friend request, or why I haven’t followed them on Twitter…… …most of the time the reason is that they’ve — perhaps unknowingly [...]
