One of the most fun writing jobs has got to be travel writing. Travel writers might not think so but the rest of us do! In our minds eye you get to travel to exotic and faraway places or even close to home and interesting places and then write about it. Travel is exciting for some and drudgery for others but we all like to read about it.
What is life like for a travel writer? Undoubtedly they go through much of the same steps the rest of us do; wake up, eat, shower, write, eat, write, travel, write. That one bit about travel is the one we all envy. Some writers only do travel writing part-time and so they need to attend to their 'day jobs' too. Sometimes they are both writer and photographer. And sometimes, shock of all shocks, they don't get to travel at all. With the advent of the Internet much information is available about many locations and destinations and through email you can even get the interviews of the 'locals' and never have to leave your home. What fun is that?
But mostly they do travel to the spots they write about and can write about travel from many different perspectives. They can write as a single person traveling alone, as a family member traveling with parents and siblings, as a couple, as a businessman-the choices are endless. There is a market for all these perspectives but sometimes they might be hard to find.
Travel Writing a book just released last month, promises to give insights on the following travel writing tips:
- The secrets of a great story
- The best ways to research
- What make a winning pitch
- How to get your name in print
- Quirks of writing for newspaper, magazines, Web & books
- Extensive writers' resources & industry organizations
The author, Don George (with other contributors) has a wealth of experience in the travel writing world. Not only has he written hundreds of travel stories, but he spent years as the travel editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner, having created Wanderlust, Salon.com's groundbreaking travel section.
Look at other books and travel articles to see how they have been written and you can decide for yourself if this is the writing job for you.