Travel Writing

1. Travel Writing

2. "The best writers in the field [of travel writing] bring to it an indefatigable curiosity, a fierce intelligence that enables them to interpret, and a generous heart that allows them to connect. Without resorting to invention, they make ample use of their imaginations. . . . "The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay, and the--often inadvertent--self-revelation of a memoir. It revels in the particular while occasionally illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness proof of life’s infinite possibilities." (Thomas Swick, "Not a Tourist." The Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2010)

3. Types of Travel Writing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. (Come up with your own) 6. (Come up with your own) 7. (Come up with your own) Adjectives to describe the style of travel writing: 1. 3. 2. 4.

4. "There exists at the center of travel books like [Graham] Greene's Journey Without Maps or [V.S.] Naipaul's An Area of Darkness a mediating consciousness that monitors the journey, judges, thinks, confesses, changes, and even grows. This narrator, so central to what we have come to expect in modern travel writing, is a relatively new ingredient in travel literature, but it is one that irrevocably changed the genre. . . ."Freed from strictly chronological, fact-driven narratives nearly all contemporary travel writers include their own dreams and memories of childhood as well as chunks of historical data and synopses of other travel books. Self reflexivity and instability, both as theme and style, offer the writer a way to show the effects of his or her own presence in a foreign country and to expose the arbitrariness of truth and the absence of norms." (Casey Blanton, Travel Writing: The Self and the World. Routledge, 2002)

5. Elements of Good Travel Writing : • centers on a key event. • uses background information that builds up to this event. • may incorporate research to enhance the background information—even if the writer didn’t know the information things at the time of the trip. • clearly describes the location and focuses on elements that are key to the story or experience. • clearly describes any important people so that readers feel as if they know them a little. • uses dialogue where possible to help the story “happen” for the reader. • mixes reflections on the experience with the retelling to help the reader see the importance of the experience.

6. "As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive writing.“ (Jonathan Raban, For Love & Money: Writing - Reading - Travelling 1968-1987. Picador, 1988)

7. 12 Types of Travel Articles 1. ADVICE - basically a service piece that helps the reader make a decision. • Example: Should You Book Air Travel Online? 2. HERE AND NOW - a topical article with limited life. • Example: Christmas in Williamsburg 3. FLAVOR - an article using the five senses. • Example: Savor Mexico 4. ROUNDUP - a collection of information on the same topic. • Example: The Top 10 Romantic Inns 5. HOW - an article about how to get there. • Example: Training Across America 6. WHAT - an article about an activity--what to do? • Example: Kayaking the Coast of Oregon 7. HISTORICAL - an article featuring the historical aspects of travel. • Example: The Grand Tour Revisited 8. HUMOR - exaggerated adventures. • Example: Wild and Wooly Nights in Las Vegas 9. DESTINATION - also called DEFINITIVE--the last word on a place. • Example: Yellowstone, the Granddaddy of National Parks 10. GIMMICK - an idea in very sharp focus. • Example: All About Suitcases 11. WH0 - an article that centers around a particular group of people. • Example: Honeymooning in Paradise 12. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - sharing a personal experience with the reader. • Example: Horsetrekking Through Hell

8. Editors' Tips for Travel Writing • Try to give your article a fresh point of view and, if at all possible, cover some out-of-the-ordinary subject matter. Your article must go beyond the self-serving listing of information doled out by visitor’s bureaus and PR firms. • Surprise us. Give us something out of the ordinary — something that only someone who was there would know. Do this by trying things, meeting people, getting involved in scenes as you travel. • Use your senses and tell us what it feels like, smells like, tastes like. But avoid clichéd descriptions and adjective overload. Please, no "majestic" mountains, "spectacular" canyons, and "perched" or "quaint" villages. • A good travel story is more than just a collection of random impressions; it has a definite theme. Decide at the beginning what point you want to get across about the place and then work your impressions around it.

9. Using a mind map or web of sorts, identify the characteristics of travel writing. See below: