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American Writers & Artists, Inc and International
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The Write Way to TravelIssue#43 "If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing." -- Kingsley Amis TODAY:
Advertisement 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 Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course at: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/kp/tw4 Dear Reader, I'm here in San Diego today with travel writing students from all over the world -- including Canada, England, France, Japan and the U.S. The attendees' backgrounds are varied -- teachers, small-business owners, event planners, a massage therapist, a lawyer, an investment banker, a retired writer, business consultants, a TV producer, a realtor, an restaurant manager, and a dentist among them. I'm sitting in the back listening to John Forde talk about how to avoid a mistake I see regularly in the articles that land on my desk. I call it "unrelated overload." That's when it's not just a sentence or two that goes awry - but whole paragraphs, sometimes whole pages. Here in class an example came up -- in an article about a small museum, printed in a local magazine, the writer takes a four-paragraph detour and tells us all about the museum curator. While real-life conversations may veer off on tangents, your articles shouldn't. Editors don't have time for it. It's a sign of laziness in your writing. And editors don't like lazy writers. So today, we're going to tell you how to fix that. How to know what details to keep and what to cut. You'll find John's advice below. Also, before I leave you to John's essay, I have a little surprise for you. While it might not be possible to beat the in-person, in-the-trenches advice and guidance you get from the working, professional writers who lead and speak at our workshops, I've arranged for you to get the next best thing. I've asked copywriter and friend, Monica Day, to join us here in San Diego and act as our reporter on the ground. Last month at the AWAI copywriting bootcamp, Monica confessed to me that she had always wanted to join the ranks of AWAI travel writers. So in the interest of doing just that, she's here with us now and has agreed to keep her ear to the ground and share her insider's view of the conference with you every day. Stay tuned. her reports will be delivered to your inbox as she gets breaks here and there throughout this weekend. Take care. 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. -- Lori Lori Appling 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 Advertisement The ULTIMATE course on speed writing! 30 Best Sellers, 3 Years: read as best selling author Nick Daws unveils how he wrote 30 best sellers in just 3 years, in his new course... "How to Write ANY Book in 28 Days... Or Less!" Mystery, Romance, Non-Fiction, Memoirs, Film Scripts: write them all in under 28 days - from idea to polished manuscript - working less than 1 hour a day. And that's 100% guaranteed... or your money back Fresh secrets... ground-breaking techniques... from a renowned industry leader. You will be simply amazed Visit: http://how-to-write-a-book.writequickly.com/?afl=12442 HOW TO EDIT YOUR FIRST DRAFT: WHAT TO KEEP, WHAT TO CUT It's a rare writer who can crank out perfect copy in a first draft. The rest of us rewrite. But here's a dilemma for you... what should you keep and what should you cut? Here are some guidelines to help you answer that question: On the one hand, you've got "need to know" information. This is stuff the reader has to have handy if he or she is going to do what you recommend. In a travel context, that might mean addresses and telephone numbers, seasons, availability, special tips on how to do what you say to do, and the like. These are the essential "tools" the reader needs to take action on your advice (and 99.9% of travel articles are all about giving someone some advice). But on the other hand, you've got what's called "want-to-know" information. These are more about the "color" you're giving to the article. For instance, travelers look for excitement, luxury, one-of-a-kind experience, variety, value, beauty, and all kinds of other things that will make their trip an emotionally rewarding experience as well as a practical one. So when you review a restaurant and describe the freshly sautéed scallops drenched in butter... visit a vineyard and write about a fragrant and fruity wine... or review a resort next to the glistening Mediterranean sea... you're probably giving the kind of "want to know" information that will make your travel article that much more fun to read. To write a successful travel article, you'll have a healthy mix of both practical facts and mouth-watering details, as described above. The skill you'll develop as a writer is deeply connected with knowing how to achieve that balance between the two. ** USE COLORED HIGHLIGHTERS TO SEPARATE "NEED TO KNOW" FROM "WANT TO KNOW" INFORMATION Get two highlighter pens of different colors. Read through the first draft of your article. Each time you come across a useful, actionable detail in the copy -- a "Need To Know" detail -- highlight it in one of the colors. Now go back, read it again, and mark the tantalizing details -- or "Want To Know" information -- with the other highlighter. You want a healthy mix of both kinds of information. With this exercise, you're identifying the details you're most likely going to keep. But hold on, because you're not done yet. ** USE A RED PEN TO DISTINGUISH "NEED TO TELL" FROM "WANT TO TELL" INFORMATION Now get a red pen. Read through the article one more time, only on this pass you're looking to distinguish between details in a different way. You're looking to mark the difference between what's called "NEED to tell" information and "WANT to tell" information. "NEED to tell" information is what your article has to have to succeed. Without this kind of information, your article doesn't entice. It doesn't inform. And it doesn't show the reader how to do what you hope they'll want to do once they've finished reading. On the other hand, "WANT to tell" is definitely not as essential. That's because "WANT to tell" is the stuff writers throw in for a different reason -- because they simply can't resist leaving it out. In particular, we're talking about things like jokes and puns so irrelevant, you had to bend over backward to squeeze them in... or extra-clever subheads and lengthy anecdotes you just had to tell... and excess trivia that shows how smart you are... overall, the kinds of extras that make you feel pretty good about yourself as a writer, but that do little or nothing to help the reader follow your advice. ** INCLUDE DETAILS THAT ENRICH YOUR CENTRAL THEME The strongest articles are those that unfold around a "big idea," a central theme. Any detail that doesn't enrich that theme in some way is a detail you can cut. For example, if your article is about what to do in Chicago on a rainy day and you spend an entire, descriptive paragraph talking about how drenched you'll get if you decide you want to see the seals at the Lincoln Park Zoo... delete the paragraph. It might be well-written, but it belongs in another story. Or say you're writing about a great source of handmade jewelry in Belize -- a French woman who peddles her wares to guests at various hotels. You might detail her schedule. You might describe the type of jewelry she produces. You might mention the prices she charges. You might even talk about how long she's been on the island or how long she's been making jewelry. The fact that she has two children, however, is probably irrelevant (even if you did find them cute and charming). It's this "want to tell" stuff you'll want to cross out with your red pen. Be ruthless. Imagine you're trying to make space in a crowded attic. And you have to consolidate five boxfuls of ideas into one or two. What you'll have left, of course, will be a multi-colored mess. But now you've re-read your first draft at least three times, you've re-evaluated the core message, and you've drawn out the essential facts. And you've picked out the bits that, while they might feel good to get in there, you can drop the second time around. Advertisement Create a Second Income by Writing Steamy Love Novels Your daydreams could be worth a small fortune. Thanks to a booming $1.52 billion romance market -- and a ravenous audience -- publishers are now willing to pay $7,000 ... $24,000 ... $50,000 ... even for first-time writers! Never written a word of fiction? One of today's biggest romance novelists started off as a secretary...until she discovered the secrets to writing page-turning romance books the market craves. Two years later, an eager publisher offered her $97,500 . for ONE book. If you're intrigued by the opportunity this market offers, take a few minutes to learn the secrets of this exciting and romantic way to "live the writer's life." http://www.theromancewriterslife.com/tw4 THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRAVEL PUBLICATION AMC Outdoors is a membership magazine focused on recreation and conservation in the Northeast. They work with freelancers on articles covering outdoor activities, landscapes, wildlife, and other travel topics. Writers should review an issue or two of the magazine and then submit their queries along with clips to AMC Outdoors, AMC, 5 Joy Street, Boston, MA 02108 or by email to AMCpublications@outdoors.com. AMC Outdoors pays for both articles ($200 to $800 depending on length) and photos ($50 per photo used). Check out their complete guidelines at http://www.outdoors.org/publications/publications-magazine.cfm. OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:
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. NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. CHANGE OF ADDRESS? E-mail us at memberservices@awaionline.com with both your old AND new information in the body of the message. |
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