Travel Writing for Travel Bloggers

How to Write a Better Blog

Abigail King

Who am I?

• Blogger– Inside the Travel Lab & Cheap Weekend Breaks– Visit Britain, Lonely Planet, UK Inspirations

• “Traditional” writing & photography– Lonely Planet, BBC, CNN, Red Magazine– Academic journals– Guides– Corporate work

Writing

• Magic– Can transport a total stranger into a completely

different world

• Mundane– Rules, tools and tricks of the trade

Writing...

...is like driving

Writing Is Like Driving

• You can learn to do it• You can learn to do it well • It’s a skill that brings you great freedom, pleasure and other

opportunities

• Some people do it exceptionally well• You may or may not be one of them • So what? Not winning a Grand Prix doesn’t stop you from driving

Overview

• The big secret• What is the point?• Headlines• Beginning• Middle• End• Final polish

The Secret to Great Writing Is...

...REWRITING“The first draft of anything is shit”

– Ernest Hemingway

How To Improve...

• Remove the mystery• Get writing• Edit, edit, edit and then edit some more

• You can always edit bad writing. You can’t edit a blank page

Two Main Approaches

• Pour your heart out onto the screen. Take a break. Get to work. The impassioned artist approach.

• Plan every point methodically before you start and the fill in the gaps afterwards. The careful civil servant approach.

Writing for Blogs

• All the usual principles of good writing, plus– SEO– Continuity– Call to action

• A sense of story & personality.• You are not Wikipedia

What’s Your Point?

Why are you writing this post?

• Information guide• Provoke a discussion• Entertain

Finding a Theme

• What can you say about this experience that no-one else can?

• History• Quotes • Current affairs

Headlines

• Bad headline > no-one reads the rest• Page Title• H1 Tag• Modify the headline for Facebook, Twitter,

Google +

Headlines

• For Search– Use the AdWords tool– Consider what people type into the search box

• For Social Media & Regular Readers– Room to be more creative– Use lists– Use questions– Use words loaded with emotion

An Example

• Page Title - Search– “Visiting the Alhambra” or “What’s it like to visit

the Alhambra?”

• H1 Title – Social– “Beauty, brutality and motherhood”

Headlines

• Experiment• Read Write to Sell by Andy Maslen• Read Copyblogger

• Test your headline against the “So What?” test

Opening Line

• Crucial• People are busy. There is already too much

information to consume and too many distractions online

• You HAVE to hook them with your opening line

Start 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.

“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.

Start With Speech

“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.

Start With A Bang

• Launch with the biggest piece of information:

• “The world’s best restaurant – that’s how it was billed.”

Do Something Different

• When I first started travelling in Italy my relationship to beach going and sunbathing was strained.

• I’ve got the natural skin tone of a maggot, so when I first started travelling in Italy my relationship to beach going and sunbathing was strained.Italiannotes.com

Opening Line - Pitfalls

• Rambling• Errors• Assumptions – When you think of

Independence Day, you think of sales, right?• What if that’s not what I think when I read it?

The Middle

• Consider headings• Keep your theme in mind• Use the five senses• Use transitions

Make It Punchy

• Short Words. Use Them.

• Avoid the passive

• Cut unnecessary phrases & fillers

• Use verbs not adverbs

Examples

• I walked quickly and quietly

– I tiptoed– I sprinted– I paced

Spelling & Grammar

Spelling & Grammar

Spelling & Grammar

• Always run a spell check• Choose one version of a language & stick to it• Use other resources to help you with finer

points eg The Guardian online

Research & Fact Checking

• Always do it

• Errors reduce your credibility• Check with reputable sources

Pitfalls

• Breathtaking• Stunning• Gem• Amazing

Use in moderation. They don’t tell me much about the place (or you)

The Finish

• Don’t just stop• Deliver your reader safely back to the real

world• Make them glad they bothered to read the

whole thing

The Finish - Techniques

• Echo something from the start• End with a teaser• End with a quote• End with a question

Bring Them Back...

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.

The Teaser...

Then we enter the kitchen and meet the man himself: Ferran Adria, the head chef.

To be continued...

The Call to Action

• What do you want your readers to do?– Comment?– Share the post?– Buy something?

ASK THEM TO DO IT

English as a Foreign Language

• Wow. Congratulations.

• However...• Don’t think you can forget all this• Especially the grammar and spelling part

The Final Polish

• Search for your own “danger” words• Look for colours, the passive, rambling• Read it out aloud• Spell check• Link to other posts from your site and beyond

Experiment

• Play around with these techniques• Test what works for you and your readers• Aim high but don’t let the quest for perfection

hold you back• Enjoy it

Questions

?

Resources

Online courses – www.writers.comWrite to Sell – Andy MaslenOn Writing – Stephen KingStory - Robert McKeeCopyblogger