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The same day I got the pictogram, a work colleague from a remote office asked me if I spend only part-time at my full-time job of, among other things, managing (editing and writing) a busy blog. And that was just before one friend corrected another’s misconception of what I do: “He’s a blogger, not a writer,” she told him. Sigh.
Perceptions are always hard to influence, especially when there are broadly accepted mis-generalisations about one’s calling. For example, on the one hand, being a ‘medical professional’ seems always to earn everyone’s instant respect, even without any further information. On the other hand, in many parts of the US, a waiter just won’t be able to finesse the job description. If you’re young and fit, most people will assume you’re a wannabe actor.
So it is with most bloggers. Unless the people you’re dealing with have had direct experience with the substantial challenges of maintaining a blog (whether or not you’re trying to make a living from it), the assumption will always be that you’re a wannabe writer. Not a ‘real’ writer, just someone still learning how not to leave ink blots from a dipped quill. Someone trying to build a following bigger than just your mom.
But it shouldn’t have to be that way. While much of what I write here will certainly be rudimentary to many of you, perhaps even sound silly to others, I can’t say how often I’ve had to remind bloggers to be a bit more earnest and aggressive in establishing their credentials as meaningful contributors to society. Just because blogging has barrel-bottom low barriers to entry (dropping lower by the day) doesn’t mean it’s a sphere of bottom feeders. There are things we can and should all do to help ourselves – and one another – out. Here are the four most I consider to be most fundamental.
1. Think and speak of yourself as a professional
You may have a day job. You may have several of them. Most or all of them might be bread-winning engagements. You may even be earning a living through your words, some of them made public on a regular basis. Or you may be pumping out parables on your own time at lunch, after the kids are at school or during the late-night 30-minute buzz after Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert set the news neurons spinning. It really doesn’t matter.
As far as I’m concerned, if you self-identify as a writer, then say it loudly and proudly. I don’t know many companies that will hire anyone who’s ‘sort of’ a specialist in anything or simply does it in his or her spare time. They want confident practitioners. So don’t cut yourself short. Even if you get by on bravado, as long as you can do what you say you do, no one will complain. Well, you better be able to do what you claim, because if you don’t you’re muddying the waters for those of us who are. And we will complain. Loudly.
2. Broadcast what you do
Regular and reality TV have done wonders for a growing number of featured careers. No one questions the workplace intensity in a hospital, law firm, or police or fire station. No one laughs at the perseverance of garage-based craftsmen churning out art on wheels. But no one yet really gets what writers do, something that doesn’t quite lend itself to action-based serial broadcasts with no voiceovers. How many times (and for how long) can you watch someone sitting at a desk researching arcana and then weaving it into a gripping narrative?
Yes yes, we all know that there’s a lot more to writing than the time spent actually writing. Someday a scribe with the right television credentials will devise a Smash that glamorises the novel-writing process, but until then, we’re left to own devices. Which means you need to talk (nay, boast) about how you fill the hours of your day. An article or self-imposed deadline may not put lives on the line, but I still think of myself as part doctor, part lawyer, part cop, part fireman and even part artisanal mechanic and I routinely try to communicate the intensity and discipline required to write something meaningful. Now if only my work colleagues were listening…
3. Bury your doubts
Think carefully about how you and your blogging buddies answer the question “So what do you do?” Even if someone coughs out the words “I’m a writer” or “I’m a blogger,” four times out of five it will be with a question mark at the end. “I’m a blogger?” Is it that there’s a chance no one will know what a writer or blogger is? That’s not usually it. Really, there’s a deeper and darker skepticism that you need to stifle. It means you’re not sure that blogging measures up well against whatever social and career standards have tortured you since youth.
It’s time to close the huge gaping opening for doubt. If you’ve done any public speaking, or, better yet, standup comedy, you know that your listeners’ confidence in you can be easily and quickly undermined by as little as a faint or tremulous voice, unsteady stance, agitated hands or poor eye contact. In conversation, answering a question with an end-inflected assertion is pretty much the same thing. It’s like when an insulted Mr Somebody Famous aggressively asks “Do you know who I am?” as a way imposing his ego, only to have Mr Unimpressed say “Quick, call the hospital! We’ve got another one who’s forgotten who he is.” Pie. Face.
4. You are a writer who blogs
In our age of specialisation, going granular can be important. All those expensive grad-school career tracks insist on it. However the environment in which a work focus is practiced is more or less immaterial. An obstetrician is still an obstetrician whether in a hospital, a private clinic, the back of a taxi or a refugee camp. Lawyers skilfully bill for time no matter where they are.
So why does it matter where writers are published? That’s the immaterial environment. We should happily explain the subject areas in which we have a depth of experience – in my case travel and culture – but who cares whether I publish in print or online? I do both. And who cares whether I get paid for my byline, I volunteer a guest post or I self-publish? I do all three. After all, I’m a writer. I’ll turn my words to any service and on any platform. Am I blogger? Yes, because I’m a writer. Do I like macaroni? Yes, because I love pasta.
How do you label yourself? Do you make pick a well-defined small niche, or do you go straight for the core principle behind who you are?
Image via BudgetAir
Post Revisions:
- 1 August, 2012 @ 9:36 [Current Revision] by Ethan Gelber
- 8 July, 2012 @ 0:06 by John O'Nolan
- 12 June, 2012 @ 14:22 by John O'Nolan
- 12 June, 2012 @ 13:50 by John O'Nolan
Changes:
There are no differences between the 12 June, 2012 @ 13:50 revision and the current revision. (Maybe only post meta information was changed.)
Great post! I especially like #3 and #4. Ironically I posted yesterday about my thoughts on the travel blogger “label” as I head to my first TBEX this weekend. I prefer to think of myself as a ‘travel writer and photojournalist’ – with a blog.
Hi Lily, thanks for good thoughts. I think it’s important to know who you are… or who you want to be… and fly that flag.
A blog is a publication. It requires a very diverse range of skills beyond the ability to write.
If you try to equivocate the two your blog probably isn’t going to be very successful. You also have to take on every other responsibility of a publication beyond the writer, including photography, marketing, circulation and advertising.
Writers are usually paid to write by other publications.
While writing is a necessary component to having a blog, it is not sufficient.
Hi Gary, labels are crazy things. What you mean is not always what other people understand. And I’m describing actions in the face of what I described as the “broadly accepted mis-generalisations about one’s calling.” Yeah, bloggers do a helluva lot more than write. So do writers. But that means nothing when society doesn’t get it.
A garage mechanic who owns her garage can describe herself as a small-business owner, but, although that conveys the diverse range of skills she has, it doesn’t tell society what she needs them to know about what she does if she wants to get business. They have to know that she owns a garage.
Along the same lines, you can describe yourself as a blogger, but most people won’t understand the “photography, marketing, circulation and advertising” part of what you mean unless you explain it. Most people just hear “blogger” and think “amateur writer.”
I don’t like it, but that’s the way it is until we can change it. One way of changing it is to be proud of it and to attach it to one or more of the many skills required, so that society sees what it is. But that means using labels they can understand. If you want to call yourself a travel publisher, that’s a fantastic label. My guess is that the majority of people aren’t to that level yet and would feel more comfortable self-identifying as writers. But it is, of course, up to them to make that choice.
I couldn’t agree with Gary more. To me a blogger means so much more than a writer. You are running an online publication. That’s not meant as a disrespect to writers, but running a successful blog does involve so much more.
I think what we possibly need to do is reference ourselves as running an online publication rather than using the word ‘blogger’. However, I do feel like awareness of what bloggers do is becoming more well known, it’s just not moving as quickly as some of us would like, but at the end of the day if you have confidence in yourself and what you do it shouldn’t be a problem.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for the thought. In many ways, I agree. However, I do think that we need to key our eyes on the right ball. As several people have noted in the comments here, it doesn’t matter how competent and able a publisher you are if your writing isn’t good, you’re not going to hold your readers. Which is what readers care about.
When they come to our blogs, they read what we write. They may admire the way we publish it and have made their way to us by virtue of how we promote ourselves, but we hold them with our words (and images). Going back to what I wrote above in response to Gary: a person with car trouble searches for a garage, not a small-business owner.
Yes, the public will learn more about who we are and what we do. But, so very much in line with what C.C. Chapman, Christopher Baker and others talked about at TBEX, as much power of flight as *we* think the ‘blogger’ label gives us, I fear we’re clipping our own wings.
I agree with Gary, to be a successful blogger it needs more than just to be a successful writer. Unfortunately, ”normal” (non-blogger) people see it differently.
Thanks for writing this, especially point #1. I have been a professional writer for about a dozen years or more, and I have a BA in Journalism to boot. I am proud to be a writer and proud to call myself a travel writer, and I take a very professional approach to my career.
I have always said that I’m a travel writer first — the platform is secondary. I am also a publisher with a very diverse set of skills — because I have to be to publish my blog, as Gary pointed out.
Travel blogging is becoming more widely recognized and accepted by the industry; more viable and credible — and I’m glad to see that people are calling for more professionalism too.
We totally agree, Mariellen. My only additional thought is that, while travel blogging is indeed becoming more widely recognized and accepted by the *industry*, we need to look beyond the industry. We have a huge public out there that still needs convincing.
Excellent post that gets right to the point of this issue. I know I am guilty of this – all too often I explain that ‘I do some travel writing’ rather than introducing myself as a travel writer. You’ve summed up the way I feel inside about the way we are labelled, and I know I need to make a more conscious effort to sell myself in the way I self-identify. Thank you!
I’m glad you found truth in this, Chris!
Online travel publisher works much better. Travel writing comes way short as a description of what bloggers do. As a publisher, you’re responsible for the content, editing, marketing, brand-building, relationship management, revenue generation and much, much more.
Keith, online travel publisher definitely works much better… for you. And Gary. And a host of others. But not for the many who aren’t yet as adept at editing, marketing, brand-building, relationship management, revenue generation etc. It’s the self-identification process I’m pushing here (declare yourself as what you are), not the specifics of the chosen identity.
That said, my (not all that strong) concerns about the travel publisher label are that, even if it’s more accurate, in the mind of the average listener you’re dropping yourself in the same pond with Lonely Planet, Rough Guides etc. For me, engaged in travel publishing though I might be, I am not a Lonely Planet. So I assert my identity as something that makes sense to everyone I meet: I’m a travel writer and editor. I’ll quickly lay claim to the publisher’s mantle when society knows what I mean.
Nice piece. But isn’t it really the writing that sets the site or the person apart? Someone can broadcast all they want about being a ‘writer’ but if they can’t string a few words together to create a coherent thought or weave a number of paragraphs together to tell a story then all the broadcasting in the world isn’t going to make a difference.
I agree with Mariellen that the platform is secondary. In the relatively short time since I’ve launched my site, I’ve found that one way to set it apart is to say ‘yes, I use the blog platform because it’s so conducive to article writing and publishing; but it’s not a blog in the typical sense’. Yes, many more people are open to blog sites and the opportunities blog writers can present for message dissemination but it still comes down to the writing. It means more than the number of Twitter followers or Facebook ‘Like’rs.
Further, I’d offer that a strategic approach to the audience and content is important as well. More important than who the site owner proclaims him/herself to be. A site with a clearly defined target market and/or subject matter that has well written articles may have a lower readership and fewer social media followers but it still may be quite successful.
I play the guitar. I’m not a guitar player. There’s a difference. I can tell people I’m a guitar player all I want. When they hear me play, they know straight away I’m blowing smoke up their bippies.
Couldn’t agree more, Bobby. In my first point I wrote: “Even if you get by on bravado, as long as you can do what you say you do, no one will complain. Well, you better be able to do what you claim, because if you don’t you’re muddying the waters for those of us who are. And we will complain. Loudly.”
Self-identification isn’t the first step. Having the chops is. But if you’ve got the chops and you want to make a career of your chosen path, then you better go bold. “I’m a blogger?” isn’t going to move any mountains.
After that, the finer and more essential points (in online travel writing, editing and publishing) come into play, like those you’ve raised, echoed by others. And the metrics of success can be argued round and round.
Thanks for the reply. The name is ‘Bob’, or ‘Robert’. Not ‘Bobby’. You’ve just lost a reader.
Such a quick leap to judgement and distraction from the topic! When I logged on here and found your comment, I had just finished writing an email to a friend named Bobby. My fingers went where my brain mistakenly led. That’s all. Adieu, lost reader.
I’m not a writer or a blogger: I am a web-based publisher. And Proud of it.
Excellent!
I think those saying they’re “publishers not writers” are missing the point. Yes, I know exactly what you’re saying: you do far more than writing, you’re an entrepreneur, you run a business. That’s correct – and also not the point of this post.
The point of this post, as I understand it is, is to say “You are not *just* a travel blogger. You are a travel writer, and the world is yours to conquer. Go forth and be proud of what you do.”
Yep, John, that’s definitely what I was going for. But the parallel question about what exactly to call yourself does sort of support what I’m saying: “blogger” just isn’t enough. Not yet, not today.
I’m a writer, editor, and Web publisher. (Kind of like the father, son, and holy ghost, but secular.)
Amen, Durant. Amen.
“Online travel publisher” now that’s a title I like.
I’m a marketing communications specialist – so I write, I edit and I promote. I also happen to have a blog and, after three years’ hard graft, I would like to distinguish myself from the backpackers who are just leaving home for the first time … but I have to keep my audience uppermost in my mind: how will they find me if I call myself anything other than a travel blog?
How about: You’re a travel author/writer. And oh, you’ve got a blog where people can happily lose themselves in what you do. Attach it to your professional site, if you’ve got one, so that people can get the complete you, of which the blog is just one platform for expression.
Similarly to CharlieBeau I am a marketing manager as my day job. So the social media, promotional and affiliation network for my blog are areas that I’m always thinking about.
However in professional circles, I currently refer to myself as a founder of a travel blog and writer. I don’t think I’m quite ready to call myself a travel publisher but this it’s certainly food for thought. The importance of acknowledging your contribution to the industry is essential.
Thanks Ethan for providing such an interesting read.
Thanks for sharing your thought Ad-lib traveller. We definitely have reason to wear many hats, but should we don the ones that *we* like best or the ones that will gain us access to royal chambers? They’re not always one and the same. Call me overly pragmatic, but I’d prefer access and then spend my time talking about why I prefer a different hat. After a while people will eventually ask me to wear it… and understand why.
Good to ponder. Thanks, Ethan.
I long for the day that “blogger” and “writer” are qualitiatively interchangeable in the popular media to the point that “travel blogger” and “travel writer” command the same level of respect. I really do. The label doesn’t matter, it’s the work you do under it that decides whether people continue to employ you or not. In theory. But, that’s not really the case in practice right now if I’m any judge. I know that sometimes, regrettably, one term gets elevated above the other, as if one means “good” and the other means “well, keep trying eh?”. (J’accuse, Mr Paul Theroux). And I kinda hate that. No, actually I really *do* hate that, like I hate any generalization that condemns a whole bunch of people I’ve never met…
I get the need for labels. If we didn’t have them, LinkedIn would be useless and we’d have a hard time specializing to the point of making money, as you note in 4). And the reality is, some labels work better in some situations than others, and so it’s practical to use them. But I don’t think we should *think* with them.
Pigeon-holes stop us spreading our wings.
Yes and yes and oh boy yes. That’s so exactly what I’m getting at, Mike. The labels definitely suck, but until we’ve commandeered them — the way the Impressionists did that name, which was originally intended to malign them — we’re at the mercy of what the mainstream thinks. Not what we think they should think. So if we want to get ahead and lead the process of change, we need to play by the current rules.
Moving around the Monopoly board like it’s a game of Parcheesi is going to get you kicked out of the game. Getting to the point of winning at Monopoly and then, to everyone’s relief, suggesting that you switch to Parcheesi, will get you where you want to go. So let’s win the Monopoly game according to the Monopoly rules and then become the game changers we already are.
Couldn’t disagree with this more (especially the title).
Shouldn’t we be fighting those who look down on the label of “blogger” instead of just trying to fit in somewhere else?
Again back to what Gary said…blogging goes FAR beyond just writing. “Web publisher” works too…but to just say “writer” is so limiting.
But this is exactly my point. If, to you, “writer” sounds so limiting (whereas I think it’s actually incredibly liberating), imagine how much more constraining “blogger” is. Would you rather be a “taxi-cab obstetrician” (combining profession and very limited platform – good luck getting work!) or a “doctor”? Until the battle of public understanding has been won, I’d rather be a “doctor”/”writer”.
Should we be fighting? We are. I am. That’s why I wrote this piece. But I wrote it as a “writer” not a “blogger” so that my friends who don’t get it would read it. Maybe I’ve changed a few minds. That said, the rest of the time, when I’m writing about other things, I’m still doing it as a “writer” because I can’t lose energy on the fight. I need to earn a living from the people who don’t get it. Even if I’m the best “taxi-cab obstetrician” in the world, I can’t afford to be wandering the streets, hoping to be in the right place at the right time.
I am a travel blogger. And if you like, you can also call me Bobby. :P
:)
Ha, I forgot the article title when I posted that. I wasn’t disagreeing with your piece! :) I’ve referred to myself as a travel writer today at the dentists without thinking about it, I tend to use a different term every time I’m asked.
And yes, agreeing with the points made above by others – “blogger” covers more than the writing. But also “writer” covers more than the writing, these days. Same with “photographer” and photography. Pure forms of these professions are rare. So labels are increasingly off the mark.
I propose a new mash-up word: blighter.
We’re all blighters.
Love it. “Wrogger” sounds just as rude, but doesn’t have the powerful word meaning behind it.
I had this comment from a friend recently:
‘By acting like a travel writer in a blog, you are actually becoming one. Despite all the cr*p you see on the internet, people still tend to believe things they read … so if you tell folk often enough that you’re a travel writer, rather than just a personal blogger, I think it will work.’
People seem to totally miss the point that we might actually be perfectly happy being ‘just a personal blogger’. Some people might start a blog as a way to become noticed as a travel writer, but it doesn’t mean you’re not one until you publish elsewhere.
I’m advocating for a broader playing field is all. I’ve got no qualms at all with anyone who wants to be a blogger. I just think that, today, it doesn’t allow the same room for growth, if in fact that’s what the person wants.
I completely agree with you. I was just saying that other people – those who don’t really understand what blogging is about – seem to think it’s a waste of time or a means to an end. What you said about people assuming you’re a ‘wannabe writer’ is totally true.
Gotcha. I had slightly misunderstood what you were saying. Although, in response to your second comment, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with thinking of a blog as a means to an end. No more than any other job is a stepping stone to something better until you reach the pinnacle of your career (whatever that is).
In my mind, I’ve always classified blogging as a type of writing (along with feature writing, or novel writing, or poetry). Like anything else, it’s a skill to develop. Keeping readers’ attention while articulating a point – all in about 300 words – takes finesse and an incredibly deep understanding of words and their nuance.
Yes, Jenna, there’s no question that there’s immense skill involved. But if blogging is a type of writing (or a platform), it still involves writing. And I’m prouder as a writer (who can blog) than as a blogger… at least until we’ve browbeaten the world into understanding what blogging involves.
So true. Great feature it has given me lots to think about and identified I few issues I have myself.
Glad you like, Lisa.
Couldn’t agree more. As a full time PR I am witness to ‘bloggers’ being treated very differently to other writers who fall under the industry respected ‘journalist’ title. There is a general shift in perception happening, although it does come down to good content – not writing a diary for your mother. It’s those kinds of ‘blogs’ that bring the name down generally, while the more serious bloggers try and make cut through with engaging, well researched and brand supported content.
I always call myself a travel writer and my blog is my ‘website’. It takes a lot of convincing to get Joe Blogs to understand your multiple roles as CEO, Publisher, Editor etc and the extreme amount of time, love and effort it takes to keep it going. I even have friends saying “I’ll follow your blog” like it’s just a game.
But we also need to remember that audiences are aware of the difference between a blog and something like Lonely Planet, and will want to read a ‘blog’ for the more honest, personal approach – which is course is one element of our writing style. Therefore there is, and will be, a difference to some degree.
It’s a tough balance, but for those churning out great content there should definately be more recognition beyond that of a ‘blogger’.
Really good point about one of the important differences between blogs and the rest, Becki. It’s something to be exploited as the perceptions continue to shift.
“But we also need to remember that audiences are aware of the difference between a blog and something like Lonely Planet,”
For what it’s worth, Lonely Planet has several blogs, and so do many other media sites these days (including such “traditional journalism” stalwarts as The Washington Post and The New York Times). For that matter, so does the European travel-planning site that my wife and I publish. For such sites, a blog is a sideshow to the main act (not unlike the Thorn Tree Forums at Lonelyplanet.com), providing a convenient way to present time-sensitive material, personal observations, or items that don’t fit into the structure of the main site. A blog doesn’t even have to be personal: Christopher Elliott’s Elliott.com, for example, is a high-profile travel blog that deals with consumer issues.
Also the “honest, personal approach” isn’t limited to blogs. Temple Fielding, Arthur Frommer, and Rick Steves are great examples of writer-publishers who attracted “followers” (a.k.a. “loyal readers”) in the heyday of the printed guidebook. And today, there are plenty of editorial travel-planning sites that reach large audiences with “honest, personal” coverage (albeit coverage that tends to be more about the reader than about the writer, and more for the active traveler than for the armchair traveler).
Side note: On our own site (and I’m talking about the main site, not the blogs), we use a blend of the “how-to” and the personal. For example, when we write about a cruise, we publish our coverage in two parts: A main review of about 10 pages, and a day-by-day personal photo diary (with captions) that describes what we experienced on the ship and saw or did in the ports of call. Each component has a personal voice, but the photo diary also has personal subject matter for readers who want to live an experience through a writer or photographer’s eyes before deciding whether it’s something they want to do.
My blog appears on Lonely Planet so I call myself a Lonely Planet blogger. Now I’m confused ;)
I like Mike Achim’s suggestion of the new term: blighter.
Wrogger is just wro(n)g!
I’ve worked steadily in the editorial industry for more than two decades, and have identified myself with a number of titles over the years: corporate copywriter, newspaper reporter, magazine editor…
More recently, it’s been journalist, freelance writer, travel writer, website owner, blogger, web entrepreneur, online publisher, family-travel writer and mom who blogs….
Just don’t call me “mommy blogger.” :-)
Hi Kara,
Pulling from ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ we are horses of many colors. Or chameleons. We are lucky in ways that maybe obstetricians aren’t (a reference to other comments on comments in this thread). But we do have our boundaries too, both inner and outer. For the time being, as vaunted as the label may sometimes be, I’m no journalist (although I too have been one). And while I do blog, I don’t want to be called a blogger, whether it be the simple work-for-hire version or the more complex publisher version. And I promise never to call you a mommy blogger.
Greetings, all. I’m a long-time writer and photographer focusing on travel and the environment. I also see myself as a catalyst, nudging others to share their stories through words and pictures, the Web and old-fashioned heritage media (including guidebooks, postcards and radio documentaries).
The problem with travel blogs is that the good ones generally come and go far too quickly and the bad ones stick around as PR agencies and countries figure out which bloggers they can count on for positive and superficial coverage of whatever the powers that be want to shout out at the world through their bullhorns.
Personally, I am concerned more by the fact that PR folks and enterprises are seeking to commodify the tourism experience instead of exploring the interactions with locals. The result: an increasingly boring series of been there, done that type of feature. If I want ratings, I’d rather visit TripAdvisor. If I want something in depth, I prefer to read a wiki in which the editing process is clearly visible in the history.
I’m not sure what TBEX is. If there’s livestreaming video or an opportunity to interact via Twitter, let us know.
Thanks for the thought, Ron. It’s a complex one. But forgive me for saying that I think it weighs too heavily on the negative perceptions of what writers and bloggers do. In my opinion, for ever flash-in-pan superficial numbers-driven blog (and magazine and newspaper travel section) that appears, there is at least one (if not more) meaningful quality title to counterbalance it. You know that I am very very sympathetic to the value and importance of writing about responsible travel (see my http://travelllll.com/2012/02/26/bloggers-should-write-about-responsible-travel/) and that I believe the market is shifting. Eventually, this will drive a change in the kind of material PR agencies, DMOs and CVBs are after. And perhaps a virtuous circle will replace the vicious one. One critical step in the right direction will be for wordsmiths of all ilk (including bloggers, writers… and catalysts like you) to step up. Many many already are.
Thought provoking post Ethan.
I totally agree that a ‘travel blogger’ has to be much more than a writer. But the bottom line is that you can be a marketing, circulation and advertising expert till the cows come home; however, if your content is about as interesting as a suburban semi’s colour scheme then I’ll be gone in 60 seconds (actually a lot quicker) and so will any discerning reader.
But then maybe I’m being naive, possibly it’s not the reader that’s always the target ; )
Hi and yes, Jack. First and foremost, mainstream readers absorb our words and view our photographs. The admiration for all the rest, if it ever manifests, is secondary.
I definitely don’t think you are being naive. Either that or we’re both in the same sinking boat.
I’m blown away by the continual quality of articles on this site.
Thanks so much, for a travel blogging newb, ur as good as having a industry leading expert as a personal mentor!
Time to hustle!
On behalf of the whole Travelllll.com team, thanks Ash!
Great Article, Ethan!
I got this Newsletter last week and already read it then. I always enjoy it to read your articles, looking forward to the next posts!
It’s true, the social appreciation between blogger and writer is way different – why? Because everybody could write, because it’s easy to install, handle, publish…but indeed, the quality is the bottom line which makes the difference.
Sadly, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter to google and other search engines if it’s high quality content or written for search engines.
We believe it’s more authentic and better for everybody to have high quality content written by experienced, authentic writers who knows the world of travel, hostel and how to handle a blog!
Such a timely article for me to read, as I’m on the crux of having my blog for three months and feeling a bit unsure where to take it from here. I love writing and sharing my stories, but thought of myself as a “blogger” but you’re right – I’m a writer who just so happens to publicize my work on a blog. Thank you!
All are excellent points, especially numbers one and three. I make a living as a technical writer, and I’m often met with strange looks when I tell people. It’s like I’m not a “real” writer. Then I started my Website and was met with even stranger looks. Bottom line is that I used to refer to myself as a want-to-be-writer. Then I realized that if I don’t call myself a writer, then why should anyone else? It’s been quite liberating.
I am a writer who, at the moment, also writes a blog. I call it a blog because I happen to be posting on line what I formerly wrote on an off-line word-processor and before that in a bound journal. I wouldn’t call myself a blogger because I don’t bother with illustrations and site design or try to expand my readership or try to do anything to generate income. I just write. I have a carton-full of travel journals and wondered if there was anything of interest in them and have been pleased to find there is. If there is enough I might someday publish, but for the moment I am just dusting off little incidents that I may eventually string into a proper narrative.
As when I wrote off-line, I am writing for my own purposes, and now that I am online I am simply inviting others, if they wish, to read over my shoulder.
If I were to become a blogger, i.e., operate the blog as a business, I would have to be concerned about things in addition to writing and, at the moment, that is not what I want to do.
If someone asks what I do I would say I am a writer and mention what I am working on at the moment and have written about in the past and only far down the line mention that at the moment if they were interested they can find some of my writing on line, including even a blog. Where I try to be amusing, or at least interesting.
Great post and really good points you’ve made. I always call myself a writer and photographer but then I see a lot of others call themselves bloggers. I still get a kick when I say I am a travel writer though and a little bervous too if I’m honest so must remember to be more assertive and confident in my abilities.
Content creation should be as creative as the content itself – including the words we use to describe what we do! The way social media evolves, and the ‘rules to the game’ constantly change, travel writer/blogger/photographer/artist/creative folks are bending and shifting with it. Unfortunately, those ‘other people’ who have an ideal of what a blogger vs writer should be are cramping the writing style of many. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Well written post. Well blogged writing. Well … whatever you want to call it!
Really a nice post. Even I also believe the same and like to get updated with all travel infornations and discussions. Thank you for the post
Nice post on travel writing, thanks for sharing.
Your article has made me hungry! I love to experience a country’s local fare when I travel, but sometimes it can get pretty pricey. You’ve offered good tips for ways to eat well, while keeping the price down and within a travel budget
Thanks for sharing the information about the visual diary for adventure through which we can travel. It’s really a great photo gallery.
I want to say that it was wonderful place to spend a some time with our family and sking in the snow with our mate.