It is fair to say that the travel writing community is a fairly saturated one but that is no reason not to document your travels in an attempt to share your experiences with the world, to amaze, to inspire and to educate. Simply because there are many people doing this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, after all, the world is a very big place.
The key to making sure that you stand out as a travel writer is to write high quality and valuable content for the readers, and here are some tips on what you should be focusing on when you write about travel.
The Weird and the Wacky
Writing about the main events and popular tourist attractions is something which has been done a million times and you scribing a piece about the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty is unlikely to get you very much interest, those who haven’t been there will have read about it a thousand times. This is why it is important that you focus on the slightly odd things to see and do, the off-the-beaten track things which people may not consider.
Personal and Informative
If you are writing about an experience which you had or a tourist attraction that you went to then it is important to have a balance between your own personal experience and a little bit of information about what you have done. If you only write the informative side then you aren’t really providing any value and the reader could probably discover more on Wikipedia than through your writings. If you make this too personal then you are only going to engage a very small percentage of people who care about your life. This is why you have to maintain the interest of the reader by giving them value and information in equal measure.
Guides
My buddy Javier Burillo is a travel writer and what often frustrates him about other people’s work is that they fail to provide information about where and how others can have a certain experience and this is something which I certainly echo. There is little point in writing about some amazing and hidden away experience which everyone must do, and then not provide details as to how they can get there, where it is, what times it is open or how much it costs. Inspiring people but then leaving them hanging is not a great way to write about travel.
Honest
There is a really foolish notion amongst travel writers that you cannot be negative about somewhere that you didn’t enjoy and quite frankly this is absurd, the key here is to be as honest as possible. It will be important however that you are consistent with what you are telling the audience and that any criticism is from your own point of view rather than what others can expect. It is your duty to be as honest as possible, no matter if it is positive or negative.
To read more on topics like this, check out the Success category
Leave a Reply