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The Right Way to Travel
August 21, 2008 - "Olympic Fuel" Tip #4
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If you want to break into a newspaper fast, don’t write a long, narrative-style article. Instead, write a “charticle.”

Jen Stevens here today. (I’m the architect of AWAI’s Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop.) My “Olympic Fuel” Tip of the day is something I picked up from John Flinn, Executive Travel Editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, who spoke at our recent workshop.

Here’s the story...

Newspapers are struggling. But USA Today’s article formula -- short, chipper, and graphic-heavy -- seems to work. Readers haven’t abandoned that paper in the numbers they have others.

And those other papers have begun to take notice. Many, as John explained, are moving toward USA Today’s charticle format.

That is, articles that have a strong graphic element and few words. He held up a charticle he’d just done for his travel section titled, “Packing light: Assembling the essential wardrobe.”

To create it, he said he simply packed a bag as he would for a two- or three-week trip to Europe, brought it to the newspaper, and then dumped it out on a table for the graphics department.

They shot photos of each item. And John wrote a short paragraph to go with each photo.

In print, it took up the front page of the travel section -- a series of photos, each one with a line pointing to it and at the far end of the line John’s paragraph of explanation. (You can see the online version, here.)

Follow this same user-friendly, how-to format and you’ll quickly impress the newspaper editors you approach.

You can apply it to almost any subject, though “round-up” articles lend themselves particularly well to a charticle treatment.

For example, here’s one from the LA Times called “Candy from around the world."

Here’s one from the Seattle Times called “Capital expenditures? Ha! Lots to see in D.C. for free”

And here’s one from the Denver Post called “Where to get your cowboy on”

Provide the photos to go with your charticle, and you’ll be every newspaper editor’s dream.

[For more up-to-the-minute tips, techniques, and real-world advice about the easiest and fastest ways to land by-lines at newspapers, magazines, and online (and set yourself up for the great perks travel writers can enjoy), listen in on our recent live event with our 2008 Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop-at-Home Package. It’s on sale right now, you’ll save $140 off the regular price during our Summer Olympics Sale, here.

You’ll hear lots more advice (like today’s tip) from the Chronicle’s John Flinn... plus eye-opening insights from Kyle Wagner, Travel Editor at the Denver Post... Jen Stevens, architect of our workshop... and a whole host of accomplished freelancers, too. It’s the next-best thing to being in the room with the experts. Workshop attendees paid nearly $1,700 for a seat at the live event, but right now you can get all the real-world insights they gained (and in your own living room) for just $159. During our Summer Olympics Sale only, here.]

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