Edited by Lori Appling in Bethany Beach, DE
"If you wish to be a writer; write!" -- Epictetus
Today:
- Meet Me in Washington D.C. (and bring your camera)
- Make Money Writing (and Save the World While You're at It)
- The Importance of Specific Detail: How to Write Descriptions Like a Pro
- This Week's Featured Travel Publication: The Way of St. Francis
- More Opportunities And Resources For Writers
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Dear Reader,
The descriptions editors like -- the ones they pay for -- are those that paint pictures so vivid, readers see and feel and taste right along with the writer.
Jennifer Stevens, author of The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course (http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/sh/tw4) and architect of our live workshops, gave an entire presentation on this topic in New York last month.
She said…
"Being nosy helps…
"The truth is, gathering the kind of specific, stand-out details editors like to see in articles requires a certain amount of nosiness.
"Even if you're shy, you can still use your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth to discover what's around you. You needn't be outgoing to count steps or steeples.
"But if you never learn to peer through garden fences to check if the beds are weeded... if you never get up the gumption to ask that shop owner how business has been... if you never order the daily special in a restaurant, even when you have no idea what it is... then you're certain to miss out on some of the best opportunities there are for uncovering details a myopic traveler never even knows he's missing.
"It’s just this sort of attention to what's around you, this 'noticing' while you're traveling that makes travel writing so much fun.
"As a travel writer you have an excuse -- indeed, a mandate -- to travel in a way a typical tourist does not. It makes your experience that much richer. And it will make your articles that much better."
Well said -- and that's not the end of it, either. I asked Jen to pull together some examples to illustrate how, exactly, you can weave those stand-out details into your stories. She obliges in today's article, below.
Including specific details in your articles, as Jen suggests, is one way to sell them. Offering photos along with your text is another.
If you haven't considered adding photography to your travel-writer tool belt, you most certainly should… and now's the perfect time to do it.
That's because next month you could learn all the ins and outs, all the insider's secrets, over one intense (but thoroughly enjoyable) weekend in Washington, D.C.. I'll be there along with freelance travel writer, guide book author, and photographer, B. Howard and fine art photographer Rich Wagner. We'll be gathering for our next travel photography workshop.
The truth is: You don't have to be a professional photographer to get paid top dollar for your vacation snapshots. You don't need a fancy camera either.
In fact, one of the participants at our last workshop in Paris sold two photos within eight days of returning home. Another "amateur snapper" I know hauled in $375 for six pictures she snapped in Edinburgh. And another guy sold 10 pictures to a book publisher for $2,000. All of them agree: It was easy.
B. Howard, one of the pros who'll be speaking in Washington, has sold more than 3000 photos. But it isn't just the prestige and the income he likes. It's the perks, too. He told me: "I haven't paid for single hotel stay in Florida for more than 10 years."
As I said, B. Howard and Rich will both be on hand in the nation's capital this fall -- September 8-11, 2005 (in just a few weeks!) -- and they're ready to show you how to shoot and sell top quality photos... plus I can guarantee you some fun, besides.
Often we hold our workshops overseas, but these stateside events mean fewer days away and less travel expense -- as a result, they fill up fast and always sell out. To claim a seat, visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/washington
Again, you don't need fancy equipment (almost everyone at our last event brought a simple point-and-shoot digital). And you don't need to know a thing about photography to attend.
I assure you: This is something you'll find not only easy and lucrative… but fun, too.
Visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/washington or call Barb at 1-866-879-2924 or 561-278-5557 for more details.
And don't forget to keep me up-to-speed on your travel-writing success. If you have a story to share, send me a quick note at lori@thetravelwriterslife.com.
Have a great week,
-- Lori
Lori Appling
Director, AWAI's Travel Writer Program
P.S. Know a friend or two who'd enjoy the freedom and independence of a writer's life? They, too, can sign up to receive this free e-letter weekly at: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/eletter
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THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC DETAIL: HOW TO WRITE DESCRIPTIONS THAT MARK YOU AS A PRO
By freelance travel writer, Jennifer Stevens in Colorado Springs, CO
Some might claim that writing powerful descriptions is an art. I would argue it's a skill you can learn.
Indeed, it's a skill you'll need to learn if you want to write the sorts of travel articles editors like to buy.
Those articles are, invariably, descriptive. They leave readers with a concrete idea about what a particular place is like. They may do other things as well: amuse, advise, caution. But it is often the descriptions that really sell an editor on a piece.
Here I'm going to show you one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your descriptions help your articles stand out in an editor's mind.
**Employ Specific Details
The best articles transport a reader. They paint descriptions so vivid that your reader really feels he's traveling with you.
You want him to see in his own mind's eye what you're seeing.
To make that happen, you have to employ specific details when you describe something. To say it's "hot" will not do. To say it's "interesting" will not do.
Let me show you what I mean:
"Affectionately referred to as the Pearl of the Pacific, Mazatlan, Mexico lies situated along the Pacific coast and basks year-round in delightful weather and a laid-back atmosphere. This incomparable port city is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. Set in a beautiful cove of the Pacific, Mazatlan lies at about the same latitude as Hawaii."
Now tell me: Do you feel you've been to Mazatlan? I know I don't. I could perhaps pinpoint it on a map… but I couldn't tell you what it's like.
This description, by contrast, is quite specific -- and infinitely more rewarding for the reader:
"Sniffing through the dank woods of Tuscany, Ugo, a truffle-hunting dog, paused before a pine tree, dug his paws into the crunchy soil and darted off. "Vieni! Vieni!" Luciano Tognazzi shouted. But it was too late. The truffle had become the world's most expensive doggy treat. Not to worry, said Mr. Tognazzi, 45, a stocky truffle hunter with dark curly hair and a broad nose. He pointed to a dark forest in the distance. "There are plenty of truffles there." -- Lee, Denny. "In a Drowsy Tuscan Village, It's Truffles That Arouse Interest," The New York Times. July 10, 2005.
Now, this writer did not simply say "tree," he said "pine tree." He did not leave it at "soil," he said "crunchy soil." He did not, lazily, call Mr. Tognazzi a "local resident," he said he was a "truffle hunter with dark curly hair and a broad nose."
Because of those specifics, we, as readers, are able to build a picture of this place, this experience, for ourselves. This description engages us in a way the one about Mazatlan does not.
**Take Note of the "Small" Things
To write engaging descriptions, you must build them on the small details. They always tell more than broad strokes do.
Of course, to have them at the ready when you're writing, you'll have to notice them when you travel.
Train yourself to do it. Stop and take stock of where you are. Count the different varieties of bread for sale. Notice the smell in that passageway. Pay attention to the feel of the fabrics in that shop.
It's certainly a richer way to travel. And doing so will enrich your writing as well.
Here are two more examples of strong descriptions infused with specifics:
**Two More Strong Descriptions
"There are crumbs on the dashboard. Two bikes are clanging from side to side in the rear of the speeding hatchback as we take the swervy curves of the two-lane D952 northeast from Aix into the hills of Haute Provence.
"The driver (my friend Dennis) continues to accelerate while thoughtfully eating a cookie. In place of a map, the navigator (me) clutches a wine-stained, lustily underlined paperback copy of Waverly Root's The Food of France. A sweaty, athletic kind of silence prevails in the hatchback. We are "in the zone." Which is to say we are: still digesting the Michelin two-star dinner of the night before that concluded with very old Armagnac; hung over; eating cookies for breakfast and doggedly focusing on the race to our next meal. It's early on day eight of our sweeping, self-imposed, hard-driving, light-biking, all-consuming culinary Tour de France, and we are already late for lunch." -- Sachs, Adam. "A Nonstop, Unapologetically High-Calorie Foodie's Tour de France," Conde Nast Traveler. April 2005.
"His kitchen is a dimly lit jumble of plastic bowls and battered, mismatched pots and pans, several of which sit atop coal fires that each night glow a bright, hot orange. Chef Lee doesn't cook with gas or electricity. He says the food tastes better warmed over coals, and for dinner, the experience mimics eating in Hong Kong 100 years ago.
"There's no sink in the kitchen, either. For water, short garden hoses attached to faucets in the wall will have to do. When the chef's daughter crouches on the wooden slats above the floor to wash pots in buckets, the soapy water drains out an open trough." -- Maxa, Rudy. "A Taste of Hong Kong," National Geographic Traveler. May/June 2005.
Each one of those descriptions leaves you not only with a strong image… but wanting more. And that is, of course, what's most important.
When your descriptions draw your reader in and keep him reading from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph, you've done your job as a writer… and it will get an editor's attention.
[Editor's Note: Jennifer Stevens has spent the balance of the last decade gallivanting through Latin America and the Caribbean -- to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Mexico and beyond writing about the best locales for overseas travel, retirement, and investment. She is the former editor of International Living and is author of AWAI's Ultimate Travel Writer's Course: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/sh/tw4.]
If you missed Jen in New York, don't worry…
We found a way to merge our audio recording from one of our most successful live events with each presenter's PowerPoint slides. You can simply put a CD into your computer and relax as the entire workshop unfolds before you. The slides advance to the audio recordings so you can easily follow along.
Try The Ultimate Travel Writer's Virtual Workshop today: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/virtual
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THE AWAI FORUM FOR TRAVEL WRITERS -- You'll find this excellent online resource at: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/forums . It's a place to get answers to your questions, discuss your story ideas, find readers to review your articles, and stay connected to a community of writers.
BIG BUCKS FOR SNAPSHOTS -- Photos can be a remarkably strong sales tool when you're approaching an editor with a story. They can significantly increase your chances of getting published (and earning extra income) -- that is, if you know how to take the kinds of photos editors like. Find out the simplest and best camera to take with you (you don't want to be lugging a trunk full of equipment)... how to use time of day... create a mood... how to photograph people versus landscapes and wildlife... and more. You'll find Big Bucks for Snapshots: 53 Can't Miss Techniques for Becoming a Money-Making Freelance Photographer here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/photos/tw4
NOTE: Big Bucks for Snap Shots comes free when you enroll in The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course at: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/kp/tw4
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Find out where you can save... what the IRS really needs to know... how to make the most of those deductions for travel, meals, entertainment, home office, and more including practical worksheets you can use to make sure you're paying as little as possible to Uncle Sam. You'll find The Writer's Tax Guide: A Money-Saving Manual for Travel Writers and Other Freelancers here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/tax/tw4
The Write Way to Travel is a FREE weekly newsletter from the American Writers & Artists Institute, available to AWAI students and friends.
© 2004 American Writers & Artists Institute
To ADVERTISE in The Write Way to Travel or to send comments, news, research, or story ideas, e-mail Lori Appling at lappling@awaionline.com.
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