#88 – Get away from the desk

Or why being unproductive can be productive.

The guilt factor
One trap that many freelancers fall into (and I include myself in this – I’m terrible for it) is thinking they have to work as many available hours as possible. The guilt factor comes into play – surely if I’m not working, I’m selling myself short?

Hours at the desk
And, with this attitude firmly ingrained, they’ll spend as many hours at the desk as possible, staring at the computer screen. This inevitably leads to procrastination.

Plodding
In fact, what happens is that, by dedicating so much time to work, you do as much in that time as you would in half the time under pressure. You plod rather than burst onto the page; you get distracted and draw the whole process out painfully.

Think counterintuitive
Sometimes it is best, therefore, to do the counterintuitive thing. Instead of hunching over the laptop trying to force some inspiration out, it can be better to stop altogether. Go out, do some shopping, go for a walk, have a swim, watch a movie – something completely detached from work.

The great recharger
That break or day off can be a great recharger. When you come back to the task, you’ll probably have a lot more enthusiasm and zest. Personally, I find that a lot of my best ideas come when I’m not working – they’ll come from nowhere while I’m doing laps at the pool or walking in the Peak District. And I know it works much the same way for other freelancers.

#81 – Initial research into markets for travel writing

Or raiding the newsagent.

Lists of web publications
For those just starting out on the freelance travel writing journey, there is a temptation to shun common sense when it comes to finding outlets for your work. Many will trawl the web for lists of publications, or sign up for ridiculous sites that pay a feeble pittance.

Ignoring the most obvious source
This is really ignoring the most obvious source of potential outlets. I would advise anyone looking to break into travel writing to get out of the house and head to the biggest newsagent’s shop in the area. Once there, flick through any magazine and newspaper that has a travel section, and buy it.

Expensive initial outlay
Yes, this is an expensive initial outlay, but it’s worth it. You instantly have a library that you can refer to. It’s possible to see what sort of articles the publications print and how long the articles are. You can also see individual sections that may be good to initially pitch for – these are often not as well defined on the web.
Sometimes it is best to start with the obvious rather than scouring for needles in a haystack online.

#72 – Respond to rejection with a new idea

Or striking while the iron is lukewarm.

Being rejected by editors
For the freelance travel writer, having your ideas rejected by editors is all part of the package. It happens all the time and always has. The key thing is how you respond to that rejection.

Response to rejection
The response for some writers is to take the rejection of one idea as a rejection of all ideas. They will write the publication off, thinking they have no hope of being published there, and will not pitch any more ideas.

Negative responses as a positive
Other writers do it the smart way and see that rejection can be a good thing. It is far better to get a response from an editor than none at all, even if that response is in the negative. If they have taken the trouble to respond, then you are doing something right. OK, so they didn’t like the idea you sent, but that’s not to say they won’t like another one.

Send another idea
So why not send them another one pretty much straight away? You’ve clearly got the editor’s attention, so you may as well strike while the iron is at least lukewarm, if not hot.

Voice of experience
The second one may not get a positive response either, but there’s probably no better time to send it than after the editor has just taken the time to contact you. I speak from experience on this – I’ve got a lot of work through quick follow ups to rejections.

Victory from the jaws of defeat
On another note, when that acceptance does come through as a result of this method, it’s tremendously satisfying - even more so than normal. There’s nothing like snatching victory from the jaws of defeat to improve the mood.

#67 – Snap up great deals when they’re available

Or the kick up the backside

Covering all costs?
There are some travel writers out there that are too hung up on the idea of making sure that someone else covers all of their costs. They’ll only go somewhere if they know that the tourist board/ hotel/ travel company is paying for everything, including flights.

Part-paying
Personally, I think this is stark raving lunacy. Many of my best articles have come from when I’ve paid for at least part of the trip out of my own pocket. This doesn’t mean I splash money about willy-nilly with no thought given to how I will recoup it, but I am prepared to spend a bit to make a lot.

Buy now, plan later
I work on a general rule that if I can get a flight to a country I’ve not been to before for less than £150 return, I’ll take it. It may be six or nine months down the line, but I can always sort out commissions and tourist board assistance nearer the time

Trip to Cyprus
A good example is my three day trip to Cyprus in June earlier this year. I booked it on Christmas Day 2007 when I saw an absurdly cheap return flight on offer for something like £80. I’d never been there before, fancied a look, and before I knew it, my credit card was out and I’d booked it.

Eight weeks before departure
I didn’t think about it again until about eight weeks before I was due to depart. I then did a bit of research for a few angles I thought would make interesting stories, sent out a few pitches and contacted the tourist board. I ended up with two good commissions, a guide for while I was there, free accommodation and entrance to places I wouldn’t normally be allowed into.

Caribbean in February
Similarly, in February I’m off to the Caribbean for two weeks. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to do there, but a £299 return flight from Manchester to Antigua was too good to turn down. I’ll sort out regional flights, accommodation and commissions nearer the time. I did something similar last year and probably spent about £800 all up – I secured assistance on four of the six islands I visited which kept my costs down. I also ended up getting more than treble that in payment for the resulting articles.

The kick up the backside
Snapping up such deals has more than one effect. Yes, you save money on the ordinary prices, but once you’ve booked, you’re pretty much locked in to doing it. At this point, you stop looking for excuses not to go. You get proactive about reducing your costs whilst on the ground and making money from articles. It acts as that kick up the backside – you’re committed, so you have to make that commitment pay off.

#60 – How to get on a press trip

Or all aboard the travel writer junket express.

Guilty secret
The press trip is the guilty secret of the travel writing world, shamefully acknowledged by a small plug at the bottom of many articles. Many travel stories are a result of the most unauthentic experiences imaginable – a group of journalists being shepherded around on a tight schedule, wined and dined and generally hermetically sealed away from anything the tourist board or resort PR people might not want them to see.

No freebie policy
It is for this reason that quite a few publications will not take any stories based on sponsored or subsidised travel. This is often a manifestly unfair policy, for reasons I will go into another time, but a large proportion of writers rely on press trips to reduce their costs and allow them to see places that they ordinarily wouldn’t get to.

Be all and end all
For a small proportion of travel writers (and again, these are the ones that make me wary of calling myself a travel writer), getting on the press trip is the be all and end all. To them, the nice jollies are the entire point of the profession.

Downsides of the group press trip
Personally, I tend to go on group press trips very rarely. I find that they invariably involve countless visits to mundane hotels, no real opportunity to experience any one product or attraction properly, and they don’t tend to be very productive in terms of producing a series of articles. I enjoy meeting up with other writers, I enjoy the nice meals and wine and I enjoy having to shell out very little money for the whole thing. But professionally, they don’t usually give me what I want.

How to get on a press trip?
But for the travel writer just starting out, one of the great mysteries can be how to get on a press trip in the first place. Quite simple really – get a commission from a publication that the PR people want to get coverage in.

Infuriating PR people
One of the most infuriating things that PR people can do is to send out an e-mail to a wide range of writers, inviting them on a press trip. When you e-mail back to express an interest, it turns out that they were just fishing. It wasn’t an invitation after all – they’re just sending a vague conditional bait out to anyone who might be able to get them coverage in one of three or four publications they are targeting.

Guaranteed publication and the blacklist
And frankly, if you can’t guarantee coverage in one of the publications they’re after, you’re not going on the trip. Personally, I blacklist any PR person that does this – if they want a particular publication, they can send out an e-mail to the staff of that publication.

Obtaining commissions
Others are more up front and don’t disguise the press release as an invitation. This is fine by me; they’re merely saying that there is a press trip on the horizon, and that those who can obtain commissions will be considered for it. And if you can get that commission, then that could be you. It really is that simple – although getting that commission often isn’t.

#59 – Following up on an initial pitch

Or what is pestering?

Time to move on?
So you’ve sent your pitch and you’ve heard nothing back. Is it time to move on? Well, I’m sure if you ask most editors, they will say: “If you haven’t heard anything, we’re not interested.” Usually, of course, this is true.

Standard fob-off
But sometimes it isn’t. It can be used as a standard fob off. Sometimes, if the editor is being honest, they will have to admit that they haven’t read your e-mail. And this is why it is always worth following up.

Second e-mail
Sending a second e-mail that politely enquires whether the initial pitch was received and whether it would be of interest can sometimes pay dividends. The editor may not have seen the original e-mail, or forgotten to reply to it, or glossed over it without reading it. A second e-mail is more likely to illicit a response, irrespective of what happened to the first one. In fact, I have one editor who almost inevitably only responds to the follow-up e-mail.

Fine line
But there is a fine line between following up and pestering, and it is difficult to know where that line lies. There’s no real correct answer when it comes to the best time to follow up – different writers will give you different responses.

Relationship and frequency of publication
I’d argue that the length of time before a follow-up e-mail depends on your relationship with the editor and the frequency of a publication. Monthly magazines obviously have longer decision making processes, so I would probably leave it at least a month before following up with an editor at such a magazine. And that’s if I have worked with them in the past. It’s probably six to eight weeks for a blind pitch sent to someone I’ve had no previous dealings with.

Weekly travel section
For a weekly travel section or website, I’d argue that it can be followed up more quickly. Probably two to three weeks for an editor I do know and maybe four for one I don’t.

Arbitrary timeframes
These timeframes are fairly arbitrary, of course, and are largely based on what I feel constitutes pestering. Other writers will have different opinions, and if they’d like to share them by adding a comment, that would be wonderful.

#55 – Why specially formatted sections are the easy way in

Or supply and demand for regular slots.

Too many stories
The editor of one of my outlets usually has more than enough stories to fill her travel section with. She could probably fill it four or five times over every week, even though there’s a high pagination. Understandably, therefore, it is not really in her interests to put out appeals for yet more stories.

Pleading e-mail
Relatively frequently, however, I will get a pleading e-mail from her. She’ll want to know whether I have any stories that fit a particular slot in the paper. This slot is around 700 words long, and is in an identifiably structured format.

Written specifically for the slot
This format means that there isn’t much flexibility with any articles going in that slot. Realistically, they have to be written specifically for that slot. And that’s probably why she’s always short of pieces to fill it with.

Supply and demand
Most of the articles she’ll be sent are the ones we all enjoy writing – travel narratives in an essay-style format. And I’m sure this applies equally to other magazines and newspaper travel sections. Logic dictates, therefore, that these specially formatted slots are the easy way in. There is less competition; supply and demand.

Same structure
Most magazines and newspapers have such slots (often called departments in the United States). To anyone who has read more than one copy of the publication, these sections are easily identifiable - they follow the same structure every issue.

Lack of competition
And due to the lack of competition, a pitch aimed at that slot or department is more likely to get the editor’s attention. Craft a pitch specially designed for that slot, put the name of the slot in the e-mail subject heading and make sure you highlight why your idea is good for that slot – not just the publication as a whole.

Breaking into new publications
In the past, I have found this an excellent way of breaking into new publications. Editors who have ignored rafts of e-mails suddenly become responsive, and in one instance I’ve ended up taking over that slot as my own regular gig.

#49 – Gauging a word count

Or working out how long an on-spec article should be.

How long?
One of the comments left on a previous post asked what the best way to gauge how long an article in a magazine or newspaper is. If pitching to a new publication, this is important – there’s no point sending them something way over or way under what they usually take.

Ask the editor outright
This is something I’m pretty hopeless at. I’ll usually just ask the editor outright, but obviously this doesn’t work if sending an article on spec. After a while, however, you do start to develop the knack of guessing a ballpark figure.

The tedious process of counting
But if you’re not sure that you’ve developed that knack, there’s nothing else for it but to count. It’s a tedious process, but it’s the only way you’ll know for sure. Of course, if you don’t fancy counting word by word, it’s possible to get a reasonable estimate by counting the number of lines and multiplying by a rough average of words per line.
And if the columns are of roughly the same length, multiply average number of words per line by average number of rows per column by number of columns.

Any suggestions?
However, I’m more than open to better suggestions on this one. So if any readers have better techniques to suggest, leave a comment below.

#45 – Invest in a small, lightweight laptop

Or getting the elephant off your shoulders.

Computer needs
For the needs of a travel writer, a computer doesn’t have to be all that special. It needs to be able to connect to the internet, and you’ll need a word processing program for accounts purposes. And maybe, at a push, some photo manipulation software.

Any old computer?
For much of this, any old computer will do the job. But I’d advise spending a bit more than you’d perhaps deem necessary in order to get a small, lightweight laptop.

Writing whilst on the road
It’s perfectly possible to function adequately with a big clunky beast of a desktop, but if you’re wanting to write whilst on the road, there are two options: Get a laptop or continuously throw money away in internet cafes inhabited by spotty teenage boys playing war games.

Dead evenings
Not all travel writers write whilst on the road – some just note down everything relevant and write up when they get back. Personally, I find that on a dead evening where I’ve got nothing else to do apart from drink, then I may as well start work on a story or two.

Smaller laptop for sale
For about a year, I was lugging around a fairly hefty laptop. It took up a lot of space in my bag and felt like an elephant was sitting on my shoulders when I had to carry it around. Eventually, I snapped. I saw a much smaller laptop on sale for a good price and bought it.

Extra bag space
I can’t stress enough what an improvement this has been. It’s far easier to carry around, and frees up that little bit extra bag space. On two occasions in the last few months, it has made the difference between having to check luggage in and going carry-on only.

Tax deductable
I could have probably stuck with my original computer, or bought another bigger one for less, but I’m glad I didn’t. And I’d advise anyone in the same situation to do the same. Keep an eye on sales, then jump when a small one (mine has a 12.1 inch screen) goes up for a suitable price. And remember – it’s tax deductable.

#13. Writing travel articles on spec

Or letting the dog see the rabbit.

Waiting for commissions
For this nugget of advice, I return to tip number nine - If you want to write about travel, do some travelling. I mentioned that odd breed that will set at home, not going anywhere until they’ve got a commission, and thinking that this is the only way to make money/ get into travel writing.

Back the pitch up with an article
These are also the people that will send endless pitches, and are probably the ones obsessed with getting a stack of ‘clips’ that they can show to editors to back up their pitch.
Well I reckon there’s something a lot better to back up the pitch with – the article itself.

Try on the editor’s shoes
Put yourself in the editor’s shoes. What do you prefer? Is it to e-mail back to someone you’ve never worked with before, saying that you quite like the idea, and would be interested in seeing the story? Or is it to see that story instantly, be able to immediately decide whether you want it or not, and then send an e-mail offering to buy it? It’s the latter, obviously.

Sending on spec to break into new publications
Most of the times when I have broken into a new publication, it has been by sending an article on spec like this. This was certainly the case when I was starting out.
Editors simply haven’t got time to respond to endless pitches from people they haven’t heard of or worked with before. But if your story pops up fully formed in their inbox and appeals to them, you can jump the queue.

A matter of trust
Many travel writers discourage this approach, saying that in doing it, you are putting the time in for no certain gain. Well, when starting out, that’s pretty much what you have to do. When the editor becomes a regular client, they’ll trust you and are far more likely to trust that what you eventually send will be good.
But when they don’t know you, why should they trust you above every other freelancer that’s trying to crack the publication? When the piece is sent on spec, they don’t need to. They can see exactly how good the story is.

Format the story for the publication
This said, you should be careful to make sure the story is a good fit for the publication – roughly the same tone and word length, with the fact boxes in the same format the newspaper/ magazine/ website uses. Don’t just send them any old tosh.
It takes a little more time to format things properly, but it gives your piece a much higher chance of being accepted.

Move on until you get a bite
And if it isn’t accepted (or, more likely, completely ignored)? Then move on to the next publication that you think may be a good match for the story. Re-format accordingly, then send away. And keep on moving down the line until someone bites.

#12 – Work experience at a travel magazine/ newspaper section

Or the only time that working for free is worth it.

Working for free CAN be worth it
I explained in the previous post why working for free is a complete waste of time and can actually have a negative impact on your career prospects. And now I’m going to contradict myself. There is one instance where working for free IS worth it.

Work experience or internships
If ever you are offered the opportunity to do some work experience (or an internship, for our American cousins) at a travel magazine or newspaper travel section, jump at the chance. For a wannabe travel writer, it’s one of the best educations you can get.

Editing in Australia
One major reason that I succeeded in becoming a full time freelance travel journalist is that I have editorial experience. I spent four years editing the British Balls! backpacker magazine in Australia. Granted, that’s as unprestigious as you can get, but it did allow me to experience life on the other side of the fence.

The extra miles
Once you’ve been an editor, you know the things freelancers do that you shouldn’t replicate. They’re the things that annoy you, make life harder and give you more work to do. On the flip side, you also know what little things you appreciate, those little extra miles that make your job a lot easier.

National newspaper travel section
When I returned to the UK in 2006 to go freelance full-time, I got to experience this on a larger scale. One of the national newspaper travel sections was on the lookout for a new member of its in-house team. The editor has seen something that she had liked in one or two of the pieces I sent on spec, and asked if I’d like to do a couple of days at the paper to see how things worked out.

Comments about regular contributors
I must have made a reasonably unconvincing impression, as I never got the job. I’m glad I didn’t now, but that couple of days taught me an awful lot. It’s the little things like the comments the team made about regular contributors – their strengths and weaknesses – that gave me a great idea of what such a publication is after.

Balance of stories, right pictures and the totty count
The other thing that struck me was how small a part in the process writing the actual story is. Far more went into getting the right balance of stories, thinking up the right headlines and subheadings, finding the right pictures and checking the facts. There was also an informal ‘totty count’ – photos of good-looking people, especially on the cover, attract eyeballs it seems.

Invaluable lessons
I was actually paid for those two days, but it would have been worth doing even without payment. The lessons learned were invaluable.
In simple terms, making life as easy as possible for the editor means they’re far more likely to give you work in the future.

What makes a publication tick?
But the little nuances were far more important than that – it’s about learning what makes a publication tick, what sort of audience they’re aiming for, which sections they find hardest to fill and what they want from a contributor.
In other words, in such an occasion, you may be working for free, but the value you’ll get from it can be immense.

#11 – Don’t work for free

Or why if your starting price is nothing, it stays as nothing

Undercutting established professionals
One thing that established writers tend to get angry about is seeing newcomers trying to get themselves established by working for free. Most of this fury is entirely selfish, of course – it means that the established professionals are being undercut. In an industry where outlets are continuingly going under and pay rates rarely – if ever – rise, it’s easy to see where they’re coming from.

No benefit to working for free
But hey, that’s market forces for you. So what if a few noses are put out of joint? Well my argument about not working for free is that, with the exception of doing work experience at a publication, there is absolutely no benefit to it.

The myth of needing clips
Many new writers seem obsessed with getting ‘clips’ - published articles that they can show to other editors to prove that they can write. This is madness. Editors really couldn’t care less about where else you’ve been published. And frankly, if that clip is from a publication that is based on getting free copy, then they’re probably more likely to look negatively upon it.

Send the article
If an editor likes an article, he or she will buy it, irrespective of previous experience. My first ever freelance article was published in a magazine that paid good rates and it’s one that many established writers are dying to crack but haven’t managed. Same goes for my second regular publication. I have heard similar stories from many other writers.
The clips are meaningless. The best way to prove you can write is to send the article.

Setting your price at zero
The other main reason not to write for free is not that it drives down prices for everyone else (although that, of course, is bad from my standpoint). In purely selfish terms, from your own point of view, it’s that offering work for free sets your price at zero. It’s very hard to go back to a publication and say: “Seeing as you got that one for free, would you like to buy one from me at the normal price?”

Get the going rate
It’s not going to work – your value is zero from then on with that publication. And if the piece is good enough, believe me, the editor will buy it at the going rate.

#10. Think long-term gain when assessing trip profitability

Or why travelling pays back over time.

Don’t expect immediate results
Following on from the previous tip – doing some travelling is the best way to find travel stories – it’s important not to expect immediate results. What can seem like an unprofitable trip at first can end up making you more than enough money to cover the costs in the long run.

Cologne to Amsterdam, July 2006
For an example, I’ll take the first trip I did after turning freelance. It was entirely self-funded at a cost of around £500/ EUR650/ US$950/ AU$1100. I flew into Cologne, and back from Amsterdam, utilising cheap flights, and I travelled between them by train, stopping at Bonn, Aachen and Brussels on the way.

Selling stories
It didn’t take long to sell a story each on Brussels and Amsterdam – about £400 worth of income – but for the rest I struggled. Then suddenly, six months later, someone bought pieces on Cologne and Bonn. Over time, I managed to sell a second Brussels story, a revamped Bonn story and a second Amsterdam story. In the end, it turned out to be massively profitable.
I also got an acceptance for a feature on Aachen, but I won’t hold my breath on ever seeing it printed – the editor has had it for two years and now the subject matter is out of date.

Round-up articles as well as destination-based stories
But it wasn’t just these destination-based stories that ended up making the trip worthwhile. The experiences came in handy a long way down the line – particularly in round-up articles. For example, I never managed to sell a story purely on the Carolus Thermen in Aachen, but it did spark the idea for a piece on Europe’s strangest spas two years later.

Chips and mayonnaise?
Similarly, eating chips and mayonnaise in Amsterdam turned into a piece on Europe’s worst food (and Amsterdam crept into Europe’s most overrated cities for that matter). Going to Beethoven’s birthplace in Bonn turned into a piece on musical pilgrimage sites, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve used Brussels’ Mini Europe park and the Delirium Café in round-up pieces.

Re-using material
I didn’t realise it at the time, but I got so much material out of that trip. I’ve taken out snippets here and there, and re-used bits that I included in the straight destination pieces for other angles elsewhere.

Trips pay over time
Yet if I’d looked at it within a couple of months of getting back, I’d have said I made a loss and it wasn’t worth doing. That’s an easy trap to fall into. The profitability of these trips isn’t always immediate – they pay over time, both in terms of selling the features you first thought of and sparking ideas for other features at a later date.

#9 – If you want to write about travel, do some travelling

Or get off your arse and do it.

Stop waiting for tourist boards and PR companies
This seems remarkably obvious, but there are many wannabe travel writers that will sit around waiting to be sent on assignment. They’ll wait for tourist boards and PR companies to send them on press trips, and rule out going pretty much anywhere because they fear not being able to make a profit if they go.

Speculate to accumulate
This is nothing short of idiocy, and it’s why I’m not a total fan of the theory that the best way to start out is writing about where you live. It isn’t – the best way is going somewhere. Initially, it really is a case of speculating to accumulate.

Stay in hostels and guesthouses
If you do things on the cheap – stay in hostels and guest houses, stay off the booze, skip lunch and explore on foot – it’s easy to spend a week or more away for under £500/ US$1,000. And it’s possible to get enough material for at least a story a day while you’re there.

Pre-planning
It may require a bit of pre-planning, but that will pay dividends. Research a route that involves a cheap flight into one place and back from another. Research train and bus timetables so that you can get between the two, perhaps stopping at another destination or two on the way. Read up on what there is to see and what’s new.

Notepad and camera
And while you’re there, be prepared to put in the hard yards. Cram in as much as possible. Pound the streets with notepad in hand and camera at the ready. You’ll be surprised how much material you’ll gather, even if you’re exhausted by the end of the trip. And this can be where those first, all important stories will probably come from.

#3 – Know your place in the greater scheme of things.

Or how all travel writers are really working in advertising.

In my time, I have come across a few rather high-minded travel writers. They are thankfully rare, but these people appear to be under the impression that they are doing something vitally important. They are creating high art on a par with the Sistine Chapel and great literary works that knock Shakespeare into a cocked hat.

Sparkling prose about exciting destinations
Well, they’d like to think they are. But really they’re selling things. They may be writing sparkling prose, throwing the spotlight on exciting destinations or tackling the big issues. But, deep down, they’re flogging all manner of products.

The multi-billion dollar travel industry
The travel industry is huge. It incorporates everything from airlines, package holiday companies and booking engines down to the man in the cafe serving the odd tourist. It is worth multiple billions of dollars. Without the travel industry, there would be no travel writing.
Put simply if people didn’t buy travel products, and spend money while on holiday, there would be no call for travel journalism.

Travel journalism and advertising
There’s a possibility that I am wrong here, but I am happy to state that every single outlet for travel journalism exists because it is funded by advertising. Without the advertising, the outlets – be they newspapers, glossy magazines or websites – would not make money. And thus, would not exist. Those that disappear do so because they are not making sufficient money – irrespective of how good the content is.

The purpose of the story
In blunt terms, the writing is there to support the advertising. It is there in order to make people pick up the publication/ visit the website and look at the adverts. The ultimate purpose of your 2,000 word masterpiece is to flog whatever’s being plugged on the page alongside it. This is worth remembering, and not only to keep you in your place. In a future post, I will discuss how to use advertising to your advantage when getting work.

Don’t get too precious
The important thing is to not get too precious about your role. By all means, write to the highest standard you can muster, be diligent in your research and sensitive to the impact your article could have. But by remembering your place in the greater scheme of things, you can become a much more successful writer. And far less annoying to talk to.

#2. Know your competition

Or why travel journalism usually sucks.

Reading newspaper travel sections
If my previous post (Writer who travels vs traveller who writes) was a little disheartening, then fear not, this one is a little more upbeat.
One thing that most travel writers are rarely prepared to admit is that a large percentage of travel writing is crap.
But it is. There’s a very good reason why most people will skip the travel section of a newspaper – it usually doesn’t have anything worth reading in it.

Not holding interest
I’ll hold my hands up here. I rarely read through a newspaper travel section myself. I’ll always LOOK at it, and often read the starts of a few articles. But a lot of the time they simply don’t hold my interest.
Sometimes they’re not on themes or destinations that I’m particularly interested in, but a lot of the time they’ll just be plain dull. Even the most prestigious newspapers can contain some appallingly tedious writing.

UK newspaper travel sections
I live in the UK, and out of the eight travel sections of the ‘quality’ newspapers (Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and their Sunday equivalents), I’d say only one was consistently good. Probably two are quite good, two solid and well-aimed at their target audience, two are poor and one is downright terrible.
I’m not going to highlight which falls into which bracket – I think it’s an interesting exercise to judge for yourself – but the standard really isn’t that high.

What I did on my holidays
The worst of them is simply abysmal. It contains reams of lazy, self-indulgent pieces that barely scrape above the standard of “what I did on my holidays” essays scrawled out after the first day back at primary school.
It also concentrates on places that a huge percentage of its readership would never be able to afford, and probably wouldn’t want to go to. It truly is dismal.

Rising above the norm
Far from finding this dispiriting, however, it should act as great encouragement. For those that can actually write anyway.
Just think – amid a sea of crap, good writing will instantly stand out. And that good writing can hopefully be yours.
Don’t underestimate this. As I discovered when I first started out, many editors are crying out for contributors that can rise above the norm.

Strong, distinctive writing
One of the first publications I ‘cracked’ is one that many travel writers that have been in the game for years have never managed to make any headway with. They’ve tried, and tried and tried, but can’t get any pitches accepted.
I made it because the editor liked my writing. She emailed back saying that not only would she take the story, but that she wished her other contributors could write that well. She thought my writing was strong and distinctive. And that is something that is surprisingly uncommon in travel journalism.

Mediocre standard of competition
So, for the wannabe travel writer that can actually write, the mediocre standard of the competition is great news. It’s not difficult to stand out from the crowd. In fact, the major problem you’ll encounter is the sheer volume of mediocrity out there – but that we shall come to another time.

#1 – Writer who travels vs traveller who writes

Or who shouldn’t become a travel writer.

A few months ago, a good friend of mine put me in contact with an acquaintance of a colleague who wished to become a travel writer.
He asked me for advice on how to become a travel writer, and my alarm bells immediately started ringing when he rambled on about how much he liked travelling and wanted to see the world.

See the world for free?
Unfortunately, this is a very common breed; the itchy-footed type that sees travel writing as a great opportunity to see the world for free or on the cheap.
The problem is that they haven’t really considered the other key part of the phrase “travel writer”.
To be fair to this guy, he’d at least put some thought into it. He had his own blog documenting his travels, and had tried pitching to a few editors for work.

Anyone can be a traveller
I took a look at his blog and groaned. It was awful. Entirely predictably, this chap had absolutely zero talent as a writer. Even his mother would have struggled to read through one of his posts without breaking into a massive yawn.
And herein lies the problem. Anyone can be a traveller – just stick them on a plane and tell them to have fun. But I would argue that most people cannot be a writer. They’re just simply not very good at it.

First class cricket?
I think the best analogy here is with a sportsman. When I was younger, I was reasonably good at cricket. If I had received lots of intensive training, I could have probably become a player at a fairly high level – maybe the first team of a strong club side.
However, no matter how much coaching I had, I could have never made a living playing cricket full time. I would have never been good enough to play at county/ first class level, and certainly not international level.

Training to be a writer
The same theory probably applies to writing. You can train someone to write adequately, and do a passable job of doing a story. But some people will never be good enough to be a full time writer – they simply don’t possess the requisite talent.
They can have all the training in the world, but it’ll still be polishing a turd.

Become an air steward
So, to those people who see travel writing as a great opportunity to travel, sorry – it’s almost certainly not going to happen. If you do happen to be able to write, then fantastic. If you can’t, then you’re not going to be good enough to make it. Try being an international lawyer, an air steward(ess) or something.

Sense of wonder
In fact, one of the great ironies is that some of the best travel writing is done by those who aren’t particularly good travellers. Really good travellers have a tendency to write for other really good travellers, instantly alienating about 95% of the potential readership.
Those that make the odd bungle, see things from the average Joe’s perspective and retain a child-like sense of wonder can often do a far better job. This is a game for the writer who travels – not the traveller that writes.