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 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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
Travel writing is a competitive field, which means it’s especially important for you to turn in flawless, polished pieces. By following these essential proofreading tips for travel writers, you can improve your writing and offer vivid information to readers: Proofread your draft shortly after your trip. Do your best to begin the proofreading process shortly [...]
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 [...]
Spam comes in many variations. In fact that thoroughly researched email pitch you just sent to a blogger or journalist might just fall into that category. According to CAN-SPAM Act, the following transactions are subject to the Spam Laws: The CAN-SPAM “covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail message [...]
Over the last several weeks, I received a couple of e-mails from writers who told me they were experts in various parts of the world. One fancied himself an Asia expert; another, an Israel expert. The first one really threw me, because I can’t even call myself an expert on the country I’ve spent my [...]
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 [...]
I cringed when I saw the headline… … “How to Score a Press Trip”, By Christy and Scott, from The Ordinary Traveler and as I hovered over the link to click it, I braced myself to read something that was going to get me all fired up. As a PR pro, the last thing [...]
Today more than ever, there’s such an urgency to post stories. No sooner do we have an idea, there’s pressure to get it written and get it out there. So what’s up with that? Fear. Fear that someone else is going to beat us. Fear that they’ll be perceived as the originator of the idea. [...]
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 [...]
Since I started FarewellTravels.com just over a year ago, I’ve been approached by many writers who say they simply want to write for the site so they can stay in luxury hotels. This always stops me. I can’t help but wonder….did they get into the field so they could stay in luxury hotels? I have [...]
