People are busy and, at the last count, there are four point three billion trillion squillion blogs out there. You can use slick design and fancy photos to make yours stand out, but don’t forget the writing. Never forget the writing.
Words have moved people to start revolutions and to fight in wars. They’ve even convinced people to buy tedious things like travel insurance.
Words are powerful – or at least they can be. So spice up, beef up, dress up or sex up your writing, depending on your tastes.
Here are seven tips to help you on your way…
1. Have a point
It sometimes helps if you know what this is before you start, but it’s essential that you’ve worked it out before you hit publish. What, exactly, is your blog post about?
Is it meant to entertain through your wit and charm? Then check it’s witty and charming. Is it supposed to provide a step by step guide to demystifying the visa application process for citizens of the Congo? Then check you’ve put in all the steps and that there’s no mystery left.
Wikipedia already exists. What are you providing that’s different?
2. Start with a bang
People are busy. Yes, I’ve already said that, but that’s because it’s true (and you may have been too busy to notice it the first time around.) Grab them from the start. Hook them in with a line that can’t be ignored. Use your introduction to set up the promise to your reader about how you’re going to spend their valuable time.
A few examples:
Direct but not dull
Coming from the Congo can be a real pain, especially when it comes to getting visas. Here’s my step by step guide to getting your hands on the Form 45 Part B, Section 2 with the minimum of fuss.
The promise: guiding citizens from the Congo through the visa process in an informal yet direct manner.
Setting the Scene
The violence of the wind whips me with my own hair and spills tears down my frozen cheek. Somewhere in the greyness, the wind howls, screams and groans, ripping up canvases and kicking over dustbins like the soundtrack to a teen horror film.
The promise: travel narrative in an inhospitable place.
- Unimaginably Dreary: Namibia’s Adrenaline Capital
Mid-action
I’m running through Kraków’s bus station, spinning around to see coaches lined up behind me and smaller trams rattling through the concrete space below. My eyes jump around, searching for D8, for Oświȩcim.
A stocky man strides towards me, gesticulating.
“Proszę,” I say, please, before my supply of Polish dries up. I’m suddenly embarrassed, flushed and ashamed to say to the face of a stranger one of the most emotionally charged words in the world.
“Auschwitz.” He says it first.
The promise: emotional travel narrative about visiting Auschwitz
- A Cold and Lonely Path: Into Auschwitz
A quote
“Bend your knees,” he says and I have to obey. From behind, he pulls the strap until the rubber scrapes my skull. I hug my arms against my chest and crank my head back, making the shackles around my thighs tighten further.
“Now,” he commands, as I try to ignore the gap where the side of the aeroplane should be, “don’t forget to smile for the camera.”
And with that, we’re gone.
The promise: skydiving narrative with drama (but nothing too serious.)
- Skydiving: My First 60 Second Freefall
3. Quotes
Even when you’re writing about your own experiences, not everything has to be about you. Interview people, speak to them. Thread their words into your story to bring your tale to life.
Speech has impact. It makes your reader feel more involved and it works just as well with gripping narratives as it does with information guides. Quotes provide not only speed and urgency but also a sense of authority (see point 6 below.)
4. Add Texture Through Background History
Just like seasoning, a few facts can go a long way. Yes, by all means, write about what happened to you, but add some other part of the sum of human knowledge to give your writing a stronger, deeper meaning. Even in the midst of something apparently trivial…
The waters swirled around me and yet I didn’t feel cold. Holy, rapturous applause for the inventor of neoprene (Wallace Carothers, in case you were wondering.) This stuff actually works!
- Surf Lessons: The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly
5. Taste, smell & touch
Photos please the eye, while videos and podcasts seduce with sound but only words can bring the taste, smell and touch of a place alive.
Fill in the sensory gaps for your readers by describing these three things.
6. Rewrites
As Ernest Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is shit.” And he ended up with a Nobel Prize.
Scribble down your first draft with passion and panache…and then weed through it thoroughly, picking up and eliminating all the horrors that Mike will draw your attention to in tomorrow’s Seven Ways To Ruin Your Travel Writing post.
7. Finish with a flourish
Here’s your chance to make that point we talked about right at the beginning; it’s your moment to deliver on the promise you made in your introduction. If you’ve written about something harrowing, you want to bring your readers back to a place of safety. If you’re writing something funny, here’s where you throw in the punchline. If it’s an information guide, you’ll need a neat wrap up that proves how easy the whole thing was.
Many techniques that work for strong beginnings can also help you out here.
Direct but not dull
Follow these steps and you’ll soon have your hands on that precious visa.
Bringing people back
And that’s it. Ninety minutes later I’m back in Krakow, in the rush hour stream of 21st century life. Beyonce’s Beautiful Nightmare accompanies the commuters and shoppers, while fluorescent lights shine over the latest Zara collection and women sell salt-encrusted Obwarzanki from kiosks sheltered from the wind.
I go to buy one and find two pieces of paper in my pocket. Jan’s card and the square cut-out from the first bus driver. It lists the departure times from Auschwitz back to the modern world.
It’s only small, but perhaps this was the sliver of beauty and hope that I was searching for.
- Overlooking Birkenau
Wrapping it up
It’s freedom, it’s intoxicating, it’s enough to mess with your mind.
We sweep in to land and my graceful out of body experience ends in a graceless heap on the floor. I’m not injured but it’s a shame the TV cameras were watching. Still, it could have been worse. I could have died thinking of Van Halen.
- Skydiving: My First 60 Second Freefall
So there you have it, seven simple steps to spice up your writing. Now get to it and use them to start a revolution…
Or at least make sure you have travel insurance.
This is the first in a 2-part series on effective travel writing.
The second (in contrast the “good cop” approach, above) will be posted tomorrow, entitled Seven Ways To Ruin Your Travel Writing and ranted out by resident bad cop Mike Sowden. He can’t wait.
And yes, that does say a lot about him.
Images: migheille, Sudhamshu, jeff_golden, hiddedevries, alancleaver_2000, Robert S. Donovan, becca.peterson26 and cole24_.
Post Revisions:
- 1 August, 2012 @ 11:06 [Current Revision] by Abigail King
- 20 December, 2011 @ 5:33 by John O'Nolan
- 13 December, 2011 @ 8:06 by John O'Nolan
- 13 December, 2011 @ 8:06 by John O'Nolan
- 1 October, 2011 @ 21:08 by John O'Nolan
- 1 October, 2011 @ 21:08 by John O'Nolan
- 1 October, 2011 @ 21:04 by John O'Nolan
- 1 October, 2011 @ 21:04 by John O'Nolan
- 27 September, 2011 @ 17:46 by Alastair McKenzie
- 27 September, 2011 @ 17:46 by John O'Nolan
This is a great list of tips. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome!
I am terrible at just wanting to get our posts out into the big wide blogging world so that it can compete with the other 3 billion trillion blogs out there. What we really need to do is stop, collaborate and listen (wait that’s not right but great song) what I meant was stop, proof-read and then re-write. Then probably throw it all out and re-write it again. Coming back to a post after a few days always helps a lot. Even in the course of 3 months I have changed the way I tackle each post. Thanks for the tips.
That is a great song ;) Taking a break is always good – if you don’t have the chance to leave plenty of time between rewrites, try doing something completely different instead. And never throw it all away…Save it somewhere, it could come in handy one day!
I never post anything without giving it about a week and reading it at least five times. I find that giving it some time helps me find the mistakes that I wouldn’t initially see. I do the same thing with editing photos. It’s best not to publish photos right after a trip because everything is still too fresh. It’s good to give it time and perspective. Great post!
You’re right – take your time! If it’s a really long piece, I find it helpful to print it out and read it on paper…I’m still a luddite at heart, obviously!
Great tips! Something I lose track of blogging.
I now want to go back and re-write everything I’ve ever put down on paper… I’m going to print this list and use it everytime I write.
Hm…I still want to rewrite everything I’ve written…Perhaps that should be another post…How to know when to let go ;)
Done ;)
Abi steps up to the plate, and once again, knocks it out of the ballpark. (Wait, is that a cliché? Wouldn’t want Mike all up in my grill. Damn, there I go again.)
Great stuff here!
Watch out for Mike. He can be like, like a…a bull in a china shop, a loose cannon etc etc ;)
Hehe. At the end of the day, when all’s said and done….you could be onto something, Abi. ;)
Belatedly? Great piece, this. Loved this.
Yes, sorry it’s belated. Been a crazy few weeks…Lots of ups and downs…Luckily more ups in the end…
Mahalo for the tips – I have alot to learn!
As do we all – that’s what makes life so interesting ;)
Brilliant tips from a writer who puts into practice what she preaches. I’m running a Travel Writing & Photography this weekend and am adding this link & the one to your ‘ways to ruin writing’ on our web link sheet. Well done.
Ah, shucks.
I meant *me* being belated. ;) (Ditto with the crazy).
Again, fine work, Abi.
Brilliant post Abi,
Like Mike said it does make you want to go back and rewrite some posts =(
I’ll definitely be trying some of these out on upcoming posts
well, this post teach a lot to me as a new person in travel blog.