Publishing online is still viewed as less “legitimate” than publishing printed words on the physical page.
Photo by Bhollar
The Internet has made it much easier for writers to break into the world of publishing. As an aspiring writer myself, I’ve spent countless hours exploring every website imaginable, all of which promise the key to success.
Websites such as Matador Travel, Transitions Abroad, and EditRED provide opportunities to hone your journalistic endeavors.
With greater potential to bare your soul comes the greater danger of getting pecked to death by the peanut gallery.
Photo by Matthew Antonino
Blogs grant unparalleled potential for spontaneity and interaction to writers everywhere ?? a virtual printing press, under your fingertips.
But with this new podium comes one of the less desirable traits of mass media: scrutiny from a faceless mob.
It??s hard not to love David Farley.
He??s the poster-child of a Walking Party travel writer. He eloped to Italy with fellow travel writer Jessie Sholl. He watched a pig get slaughtered outside of Prague and used that for his contribution to Traveler??s Tales Prague (which he also co-edited with Sholl).
More recently he has become a sort of Indiana Jones for the Gen-X set (his current book is on the search for Jesus Christ??s foreskin which, up until 1983, was allegedly preserved in the Italian hill-town of Calcata).
Tags: Interview, David, Farley, Travel, Writing, And, Holy, Genitalia
Chuck Thompson is a travel writer who knows controversy. His recent book “Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer” is a unabashed peek into the seedy underbelly of the travel writing industry.
From editor’s too afraid to publish quality writing for fear of angering advertisers, to the copious amount of freebies given to writers for favourable words - the truth is an ugly place.
Tags: Interview, Chuck, Thompson, Travel, Writing, Dirty, Secrets
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Corte Madera, California, at the closing ceremonies of the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference.
I was working on my fourth glass of complimentary champagne and talking to Matthew Polly, a faculty member and author of the travel/kung fu memoir, American Shaolin.
“Playboy!” I was saying, waving my glass for emphasis. “I don’t think I could even go into a store and buy a Playboy, let alone aspire to write for them someday.”
Tags: Why, Does, Travel, Writing, Suck, Magazines, For, Women
Tim Leffel is the editor of PerceptiveTravel.com, an online, non-corporate magazine devoted to showcasing original and thought-provoking travel stories.
Perceptive Travel is one of my favorite online media outlets, consistently serving up eclectic and engaging travel stories.
You won’t find any fluff at Perceptive Travel, and Mr. Leffel aims to keep it that way.
Tags: Interview, Tim, Leffel, Travel, Writing, The, Internet, Age
In August 2007, travel journalist Eva Holland attended the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, CA. In this article, Eva shares practical tips dished out by the professional Book Passage faculty of travel writers and editors.
Book Passage was a blast.
After four full days of workshops and discussion panels, and four late nights of informal schmoozing, I came away with some great advice, some new friends, and a serious cumulative hangover.
Tags: Things, Learned, About, Travel, Writing, Book, Passage
Travel is all about dialogue and interaction between characters.
Too often though, beginning travel writers focus exclusively on one character (the narrator), with little effort made at capturing others?? voices.
For example, a beginning writer will describe a place, say a pueblo in Mexico, then add a brief dialogue:
Tags: How, Develop, Convincing, Dialogue, Your, Travel, Writing
In real life we simultaneously process dozens of thoughts, memories, ideas and emotions. The stories that seem real and alive are stories that contain multiple layers.
The beginning writer, however, usually tends to focus on one thing at a time.
Here are two techniques that will add depth and layering to your travel narrative.
Tags: Powerful, Techniques, Illuminate, Your, Travel, Writing
Matt Gross has my dream job.
As the Frugal Traveler for the New York Times, one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world, Matt gets to travel across the country and around the globe and share his adventures with hundreds of thousands of readers.
It’s enough to make me green with envy.
A few weeks ago I got Matt’s attention by calling him my “nemesis” in an edition of Tales From the Road.
Tags: Interview, Matt, Gross, Talks, Travel, Writing, The, Web