Travel writing
Travel writing is extremely varied
Judy Darley is a travel writer who has contributed extensively to Portugal Magazine, Greece Magazine and The Italian, as well as writing travel pieces for Folio and Gunpowder Magazine. She contributed to 1001 Escapes: To Make Before You Die, a worldwide guide published by Quintessence in the summer of 2009. Before going freelance, she was Features Editor of Spanish Homes Magazine.
In 2005, after months of unpaid internships at a variety of publications, I applied for a Staff Writer job with Spanish Homes Magazine. The application asked me to write a short feature about Cadiz in southern Spain.
I’d never heard of the town, but I did some online research, wrote the piece as though I’d been there, and was invited to interview.
I soon learnt that being able to write self-assuredly about a place you’ve never seen is a key skill for staff writers on travel publications, and that it’s as important to know your way around the internet as it is a foreign city.
I already had a degree in Journalism, and the internships had taught me to write snappy articles in a broad range of styles. For the first time, the large amount of travel on my CV was seen as a positive thing, and that, coupled with the writing sample, plus my enthusiasm for the subject, subsequently led to me being offered the role.
I worked my way up to the position of Features Editor, but my priority was still to do plenty of writing. I also freelanced for a number of other travel publications, which gave me the opportunity to write about other countries.
An astonishing number of the people I speak to tell me I’m doing their dream job, but a lot of them think I simply get paid to go on holiday, which isn’t the case at all. Being a travel writer isn’t half as glamorous as people think.
Trips are far fewer than you might expect and you need to develop your imagination to add flavour to the research you carry out online. In fact, daydreaming is a large part of the job.
The more first-person accounts you can source the better – it will help you to gain an insider’s viewpoint without actually becoming an insider.
Often the trips themselves mean long hours trekking around foreign countries with property developers who want you to write rave reviews of their building projects.
There’s a huge amount of competition, and I used to get annoyed by the number of people who told me I’d never get into it because of that. It just means you need to be persistent, hard working and be willing to work for free until a paid role comes along.
The best thing you can do is write for anyone who will publish you and build up a portfolio of work. Even having your own blog will help, providing you edit it meticulously.
As a features editor and freelancer I’ve been on both sides of the submission process, and it’s shown me how important it is to read the publication you are writing for to get a sense of the type of piece you’re expected to produce. Many expect more than a simple report of what you did and saw, requiring an insight into local culture and politics, or the property market, as Spanish Homes Magazine does. The point of view is also crucial; while Spanish Homes Magazine uses the second person: “You could try this”, Greece and Portugal magazines use the first person: “I tried this!”
Look at the kind of information box-outs that are used to see whether you need to provide details on accommodation, transport, or local customs.
When pitching, it’s worth considering the angle your piece would take, and why you are the person most qualified to write it. For example, a piece about skiing in Aspen might be best produced by an experienced skier, or, conversely, a complete novice. An interesting point of view might come from a keen snowboarder trying skiing for the first time.
Many publications, such as Real Travel, ask for a 200-word proposal, which can be a synopsis or the opening paragraphs, to help them consider how the feature will work in their magazine. In this situation, put as much effort into the proposal as you would the feature itself, and be sure to mention that you will be providing high resolution images. If you don’t have confidence in your own photography skills, contact the tourist board for images – many have online photo banks you can download pictures from.
And expect rejection, but don’t be disheartened by it. Everyone thinks they want to be a travel writer, and relevant magazines receive countless submissions. However, remember that many of these come from hopeful holidaymakers with no experience of writing for a wider market and simply want to see their travelogue in print.
If you take a professional approach and consider the style of the publication you’re approaching, you have a good chance of standing out from the rest.
