How To Become A Freelance Travel Writer In 10 Not So Easy Steps
hat's not so easy about for a family with small children
becoming a travel writer? or a romantic young couple. Both
are in Paris - but the stories
You travel, write down everything will be different. Make sure
you see and hear, sprinkle in you're clear on your target
your incredibly funny personal audience.
experiences, and send an article
off to a dozen editors. Someone 2. Write your story well.
will buy it, right?
Travel writing is like all other
Oh so very wrong! writing - you need good grammar,
flawless punctuation, active
Travelers with personal stories voice, flowing style, and
are a dime a dozen - but good unerring accuracy. Edit yourself.
writers with a strong story are Cut, cut, cut. Keep it tight. If
as rare as a Christmas heatwave your writing is a bit rusty,
in Montreal. practice by submitting articles
to web article sites. And read
How do you beat the odds to good writing.
become a travel writer? The
following 10 steps won't 3. Give editors what they want.
necessarily make you rich and
famous, but they will increase Read writers' guidelines closely.
your chances. A common beginners' mistake is to
think they know what a magazine
1. Match your story to your wants more than its editor does.
audience. Follow guidelines scrupulously -
if they're looking for a piece on
Writing a story about Paris will Bulgaria from a senior's point of
be different if you're writing view, don't write about the best
gap year trip ever - or go you how he gets up at three in
somewhere else with your story. the morning to start mixing dough
is far more compelling than
4. Have an angle. coldly describing how a baker
gets up at three... It's all
Switzerland is a destination, not about voice - use those around
a story. The decline of yodeling you.
and cow running is a story. The
best, worst, highest, cheapest, 7. Provide visuals with your
furthest, newest piece.
hotel/restaurant/attraction is a
story. Someone doing something Photographs will help your story
different is a story. sell. Make sure you check the
writers' guidelines - if they
5. Know your stuff. want slides, don't send them
digital. If your package isn't as
Do your research before you go - requested, an editor might not
know your facts and the rest will even get as far as reading your
follow. Take copious notes - on story. She'll just throw it out.
what you see, hear, smell, feel, There are plenty of writers out
spend. It may not seem important there willing to deliver exactly
right now, but those details will what she wants.
give your story texture when you
sit down to write. 8. Always query.
6. Use interviews. Editors have their preferred ways
to be queried or pitched - by
Quoting experts or everyday email, phone or post. Don't pitch
people will lift your story off an identical story elsewhere -
the page. Having the baker tell until they decide whether they
want it. And that can take weeks This is inevitable and may have
or even months. Only submit nothing to do with your writing.
simultaneously if the markets Your story may be about winter
don't overlap - for example and the magazine is prepping for
newspapers in different cities, summer. When you least expect it,
magazines in different regions. you'll get an assignment.
Don't pitch the same story to
competing papers and magazines. 10. Hit the road.
9. Expect rejection. Armed with your assignment - GO!
About the Author:
Leyla Ayse is a development professional and former journalist with a love of travel writing. Visit http://www.women-on-the-road.com, her imaginative and offbeat web resource for women who love to travel on their own.
Published At: www.Isnare.com
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