You’re a travel writer. You don’t write about food or gardening. You write about travel therefore, you have a niche. Unfortunately, unless you have star status as a travel writer, you’re not niche enough. Budget-strapped editors hiring freelancers don’t get stars for the majority of their stories. All things being equal, they hire writers with [...]
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 [...]
I recently asked my friend and colleague, Ed Wetschler, if he was traveling much these days. It was a fair question for Ed, who is the Executive Editor of Tripatini and chair of the Northeast Chapter of SATW. But his answer baffled me. “No,” he said. “I’m not. I’ve taken some press trips, but I’m [...]
When I was at Conde Nast, my colleagues and I periodically talked about how powerful the words “Free” and “Sex” were. Those were the two words that sold the most magazines, the two most frequently used words on the covers. However, they were never used together (which, quite frankly, would have drawn even more readers). [...]
One of the biggest challenges I have as a writer these days is just staying on the beam. For example, just now, rather than write that first sentence and move on to the next, I Googled ‘staying on the beam.’ I wanted to check—was it being used in this context by all sorts of writers [...]
Victorian towns with a touch of the Old West swaggering out the saloon doors. Stickball in a 19th century Native American village. Discovering over 500 varieties of soda. A wildlife refuge where Teddy Roosevelt once hunted with Comanche war chief Quanah Parker. Celebrating a centennial. Oil barons and their riches. Experiencing the sights and smells [...]
If you’re already an established travel writer, you’ve heard it dozens of times. “Oh what I would do to have your job!” Indeed, the life of a travel writer can be an enviable one, but at the same time, it’s not for everyone. Take a few minutes and answer the following 12 questions. Jot down [...]
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 [...]
You just noticed on Facebook that two colleagues are off to the Amalfi Coast on a press trip. Your heart sinks. Why weren’t you invited? Chances are you’re not on that invitation list for a reason. So what does one have to do to get on and stay on these lists? Here are some dos [...]
For my site, FarewellTravels, we just posted a piece about 10 great winter retreats. Putting it together got me thinking about the whole formula of using top ten lists in travel writing. Why are they so popular among bloggers and site editors? Are they really a smart choice when preparing content? I decided to weigh [...]
With the rush to get scoops on stories or simply to just write and post a piece before one heads out to the gym in the morning… …. we all know, editorial standards have taken a nose dive. Some of this I can live with occasionally. The word “there” inadvertently spelled “their” for example. [...]
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 [...]
About a year ago, I was on a press trip with three other journalists. Our driver did a yeoman’s job of taking us places to get great stories and really amazing photographs. He personally went out of his way many times for us, taking group pictures, working very long days, even lugging one writer’s camera [...]
Photography is the world as seen through the eyes of the photographer. In the same way that two writers would tell two completely different accounts of the same moment, two photographers will likely photograph the exact same scene, the exact same moment in two completely different ways. This similarity between writing and photography is exactly [...]
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. [...]
