Jen Stevens
The Easiest and Fastest Way to Get a By-Line and a Check
One of the best ways to break into the travel-writing business (and to get repeat clips, too) is to write short articles -- 250-600 words in length, typically.
Those Pesky Negatives: How to Be Honest and Still Sell Your Story
Target your audience correctly and your negatives will mostly disappear.
Uncovering the Best Story Ideas: Three Keys to Writing Articles Editors Want
The best -- the most marketable -- story ideas are specific, unique, and targeted to a particular audience.
Unexpected Attention-Grabbers: Three Effective Twists on the Travel Lead
While specific detail will always mark any good travel lead, you needn't feel tied to a straightforward descriptive introduction to your article. You can beef up and vary your leads by adding a surprising fact, a quote, or by getting right to the "so what," of your piece -- assuming it's something your audience will [...]
Three Ways to Broaden Your Focus and Bump-Up Your Travel Writer Income
What you know about good travel writing holds true, in my view, of all good writing. The skills I teach in The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course , many of which I've also discussed here in past issues of The Write Way to Travel -- like how to read critically, analyze your audience, grab a reader's [...]
Eight Guidelines to Follow When Writing About Real Estate
Plenty of "consumer" publications buy real estate-related travel articles, and most of the time they are written by folks just like you. However, you should keep these eight guidelines in mind.
A 4-Part Guide to Writing Great Headlines
Headlines offer an important opportunity to stand out. Here are four things that will ensure your headlines grab an editor's attention.
What Your Headline Should Avoid and What It Should Do
Headlines offer writers an important opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Most travel editors receive at least 100 submissions a month. Here are a couple things you should know.
Seven Habits of a Truly Observant Traveler
The best travel writers are observant travelers. They've trained themselves to notice things. It's those rich details that editors like.
How to Trash the "Travel Speak" and Write Descriptions that Sell
The descriptions that 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. How do you make sure your descriptions do that? The short answer is: "Show don't tell" -- a maxim of good writing you'll come across [...]
How to Remove Yourself from Your Travel Article
As a travel writer, you should tell your story from your point of view. Here is some advice on how to do this without using "I" and "we."
