The market for travel writing is vast, including all the general and woman's magazines, newspapers with all their colour supplements, specialist magazines that deal with camping, caravaning, motoring, sailing, walking, back-packing, etc. as well as hundreds of online publications.
Travel Writing for Beginners - Keep a Journal
- Freshness of approach is what editors look for. It is very important to capture the moment- you will forget it otherwise.
- Use all your senses: smell, touch, sight, taste and write what you experience WHEN you experience it. Notice things like unusual fruits and find out their names, flowers, local dress, smells, etc.
- Eat where the locals eat and make notes of foods that the visitor might not normally come across. Some of the best food is street food.
Your notebook should also be used for recording facts. Record only those things you have seen with your own eyes and facts you know to be accurate. It's not a good idea to just wander around soaking in the atmosphere. If you don't record your impressions you will forget them. You may have an overall impression but will forget all the little things that would light up your article.
A tape recorder can also be used for recording notes and some people might find it less trouble than writing things down.
Travel Writing for Beginners - The Importance of a Good Story Angle
There are opportunities for straightforward accounts (it depends upon who you are writing for) but you will have more chance of a sale if you have a specific focus or angle.
You don't have to travel to exotic places for good ideas. Look around your own area, places that you are familiar with, try to see them in a different light. For example, Canada’s Prince Edward Island is well known as the birthplace of Anne of Green Gables - it is less known as a great place for cycling; there are excellent trails and the whole island can be done in a week.
New York City is a well-trodden tourist destination so why not offer something a bit off-the-beat like City Island, a small nautical community located in the Bronx. It is noted for its fabulous seafood resturants and pretty village-like atmosphere. It is only a short train ride from Manhattan.
Are there local bus routes that would take visitors via historic or interesting places (as opposed to a tourist bus)?. For example, in London (UK) the route of the No.15 Bus takes visitors past most of the famous sights of the city, and you can get off and on whenever you like. An article about how to make the most of this journey, listing attractions along the way could be a good seller.
Remember subject vs. idea. i.e. the Tyrol is the subject. What are you going to say about the Tyrol?
Fancy being a travel writer? Check out Cathy Smith's book 'How to Write and Sell Travel Articles'
UK Buyers - (Online)
More articles on how to be a journalist.
Cathy Smith - I have Miss McGinn to thank for my becoming a writer. I was in her class for only two years from age nine to eleven. In what we called ...
Join the Conversation