How to Write a Better Travel Blog: Advanced Technique

WRITEBETTER,RIGHTNOWIntermediateLevel

TRAVERSE2016 AbigailKing

@abigailking@insidetravellab

WhoamI?

“TradiIonal”writer

LonelyPlanet,CNN,NaIonalGeographicTraveler,Red&more@abigailkingwww.abigailking.co.uk

WhoamI?

TravelBlogger

InsidetheTravelLabAthoughTulblogonluxurytravelandcultureFeaturedbyNatGeoTraveller,Cosmopolitan,Grazia,TheIndependent&morewww.insidethetravellab.com

WhoamI?

Andmore…

• DirectorofCapIvate• DirectorofTheSocialFootprint• A&EDoctor

ThePowerofWords

GeZngStarted

•  Beforeyouaddspice,youmustbeclear•  Otherwiseit’sjustconfusing

•  First,aquickrecaponclearingandcleaningupyourwriIng

Youhaveapoint,right?

WhyareyouwriIngthispost?•  InformaIonguide•  Provokeadiscussion•  Entertain

Cleaning

•  Clearunnecessaryclu_er– TrimoutadjecIves– Eliminateadverbs– Banishthepassivevoice– AvoidwordrepeIIon– Beruthless:removeatleast10%

Smallpointers

•  Veryunique•  “OnlyinItaly...”•  Thebest•  Complainingtoomuch•  NaIonalstereotypes•  Toomuchslang

GetSpicy

•  Promise•  RepeIIon•  Facts•  Speech•  Rhythm&Blues•  Themes•  Voice

ThePromise

•  Beginswithyourheadline•  ReinforcedbyyourintroducIon•  Carriedthroughoutthepiece•  Deliveredattheend

AddingSpice

•  Addthespicethatfitsyourpromise•  Addthespicethatfitsyourpoint

•  Let’sgo!

Headlines

•  ThedayIheldtheIronCurtaininmyhand•  Twomillionpageviewslaterandwhyitdoesn’tma_er

•  Skydiving:myfirst60secondfreefall•  7unusualthingstodoinCardiff

PackageFacts

•  YouarenotWikipedia•  Butpeopleliketolearnsomethingnew•  SweepawayalonglistoffactsintoaIdyfactbox

•  Oratleastapairorbrackets

TheFactFlourish•  They’vegotthatperfectblendofcomfortfoodwithouttheweightof

stodge.Plus,theyhavetheelementofsurpriseasyouneverknowwhichoneyou’regoingtoget.Andfinally?Theycomewithawonderfulrangeoftrivia.Didyouknow,forexample,thatpierogihavetheirownsaint?(StHyacinth,orSwietyJacek,incasethatpieceoflifeknowledgepassedyouby.It’susedinanexpressiontomean“goodgrief!”)Andhowaboutthis:theProto-Slavicroot“pir”meansfesIvityinitsvariousSlaviccognatesacrossEurasia?Andthis:thewordsinthatlastsentenceactuallymeansomethingtosomepeople?!Yes,apierógisnoordinarydumpling.

FindingFacts

•  Wikipedia–references•  Broadsheetpapers•  Interviews•  Books

CheckingFacts

•  Prices,phonenumbers,websites•  Names-inperson•  h_p://www.economist.com/styleguide/introducIon

•  Mainstreampresswebsites

Rhythm&Blues

•  Mostpeoplereadaloudintheirhead•  Thereisarhythmthatpleasesus•  Difficulttoexplain•  Butitisthere•  Rulesofthrees

Rhythm&Threes

•  EducaIon,educaIon,educaIon•  Yeswecan•  Justdoit•  Yougetmeacoffee,yougetmemybriefcaseandyou...getahaircut!

Speech

•  Energisestext•  Provideslocalflavour•  Ifyoudoitright•  Don’tincludeeverythingsomeonetoldyou•  AsktherightquesIons

TheIronCurtain

“IcameherewithmyfriendofHolland,”saysWind.“Justtolookandtomakesomepictures.”

Hetrembles.

“Andthesoldiers,theytooktheirgunsandtheyshot.”

Interviews

•  Avoidbestof/favourite/topquesIons•  Ask“open”quesIons•  Createcolourandcharacter• Getthenameofthedog

PlayGod

• Putsomeoneinthescene• Bringinanimateobjectstolife• MenIonallthesenses• Psst-Videocan’tdothis

Pierogi

PS–It’salsosuspiciouslysimilartogyozainJapanandnothingliketheravioliinItaly,whateverthefoodcriIcssay.

IfIweretracingtheancestryoffood,I’dbeplacinggoodmoneyondiscoveringanillegiImateflingbetweenJapanandmoderndayPolandsomewhereinthe18thcentury.Likeravioliindeed...Pah!

UsePowerWords

•  Death,love,passion,money,power,mother,baby,child,life,living,ghost,free,trust

•  You

TheDummy

•  LullthereaderintoexpecIngonething•  Andthensurprisethemwithanother•  Badoom-bash!

TheRoadtoSopronSomeImesthingsgowronginlife.Theprinteratthecarhirecompanybreaks,thesatnavdoesn’twork,thejourneyislongerthanyou’vebeentoldandyouturnupverylate.SomeImesotherthingsgowronginlife.You’reshotatbysoldierswhilewalkinginafield,you’rebannedfromlivingwithyourfamilyandtheveryactoftryingtocrosstheborderthatcontainsyoubrandsyouacriminalinaregimereliantontortureandexecuIon.AndsomeImesthosetwoworldscollide.

Analysis

SomeImesthingsgowronginlife.Theprinteratthecarhirecompanybreaks,thesatnavdoesn’twork,thejourneyislongerthanyou’vebeentoldandyouturnupverylate.SomeImesotherthingsgowronginlife.You’reshotatbysoldierswhilewalkinginafield,you’rebannedfromlivingwithyourfamilyandtheveryactoftryingtocrosstheborderthatcontainsyoubrandsyouacriminalinaregimereliantontortureandexecuIon.AndsomeImesthosetwoworldscollide.

ThedayIheldtheIronCurtaininmyhand

DangerousRoad

•  SurvivingtheWorld’sMostDangerousRoadinBolivia

Tobefair,it’stechnicallynotconsideredthe“World’sMostDangerousRoad”anymore.DuetotheconstrucIonofanewhighwaycloseby,whichdirectsmosttrafficawayfromitspath,they’verecentlyupgradedthetrail’snicknametoamuchmoresimple,passiveandinviIngmoniker…“TheDeathRoad.”

•  Tourist2Townie.com

Analysis

•  SurvivingtheWorld’sMostDangerousRoadinBolivia

Tobefair,it’stechnicallynotconsideredthe“World’sMostDangerousRoad”anymore.DuetotheconstrucIonofanewhighwaycloseby,whichdirectsmosttrafficawayfromitspath,they’verecentlyupgradedthetrail’snicknametoamuchmoresimple,passiveandinviIngmoniker…“TheDeathRoad.”

•  Tourist2Townie.com

TheLure

•  Chloride,Arizona,isalivingghosttown.It’sanoddvillagewithcrumblingbuildings,abizarrecollecIonofyardartandanimpressivenumberoftractors.Morethan72minesusedtooperateinChloride,andremnantsofmanyofthemcansIllbeseentoday.Thereareafewsmallcornershopswherepeoplesellgissandcoldsodas,andoccasionallyaghostisspo_edwanderingaround,butotherthanthat,there’snotawholelotgoingoninthishighdeserttown.

Exceptonething…

KaleidoscopicWandering

Analysis

•  Chloride,Arizona,isalivingghosttownIt’sanoddvillagewithcrumblingbuildings,abizarrecollecIonofyardartandanimpressivenumberoftractors.Morethan72minesusedtooperateinChloride,andremnantsofmanyofthemcansIllbeseentoday.Thereareafewsmallcornershopswherepeoplesellgissandcoldsodas,andoccasionallyaghostisspo_edwanderingaround,butotherthanthat,there’snotawholelotgoingoninthishighdeserttown.

Exceptonething…Badoom-bash!

Voice

Unleashyourinnerrockstar

Voice

•  Unique•  You•  Standoutfromthecrowd•  WriIng“rules”helpunleashyours•  WriIngbadlyhidesit

FindingYourVoice

•  Singintheshower•  Writeinasmanydifferentstylesasyoucanmanage•  Writeasthoughno-onewilleverreadit•  Writewithoutreadingback•  Writewithoutstopping•  Letloose–nowyouknowyoucanreturnandbashitintosomethingpresentablethroughediIng

Don’tHideYourVoice

•  Searchouttheblandwordsandexpressionsthatweallshare

•  Lovely,awesome,gorgeous•  Bewareyour“crutch”words•  Thebest•  Don’tdrownitoutbeneaththehowlsandgnashingofteethofpoorspellingandgrammar

Themes

•  Shrek•  Children’sfilmthatadultscanenjoy•  Jokesandplotpointsthatworkonseverallevels•  Adeepertheme:characterismoreimportantthanbeauty

•  (andourculturecurrentlyteachestheopposite)

TheGodfather

•  Gunfightgangsterentertainment•  Crimedoesn’tpayintheend•  Thequestforabsolutepowerleadstoabsoluteloneliness

•  Thequestforrespect•  Universalthemes:power,respect,inheritance,loyalty,betrayal,familyconflict

•  Relatestousall

TooHeavyforABlogPost?

•  PeoplerespondtoemoIonmorethanreason•  Peopletraveltofeelsomething•  Peoplereadabouttraveltofeelsomething(ortolearnsomethingthatwillhelpthemtravel)

DeliverSaIsfacIon

•  Don’tjuststop•  Deliveryourreadersafelybacktotherealworld

•  Makethemgladtheybotheredtoreadthewholething

TheFinish

•  Echosomethingfromthestart•  Endwithateaser•  Endwithaquote•  EndwithaquesIon

TheStart

I’mrunningthroughKraków’sbusstaIon,spinningaroundtoseecoacheslinedupbehindmeandsmallertramsra_lingthroughtheconcretespacebelow.Myeyesjumparound,searchingforD8,forOświȩcim.

Astockymanstridestowardsme.

“Proszę,”Isay,please,beforemysupplyofPolishdriesup.I’msuddenlyembarrassed,flushedandashamedtosaytothefaceofastrangeroneofthemostemoIonallychargedwordsintheworld.

“Auschwitz.”Hesaysitfirst.

TheFinish

NinetyminuteslaterI’mbackinKrakow,intherushhourstreamof21stcenturylife.Beyonce’sBeauIfulNightmareaccompaniesthecommutersandshoppers,whilefluorescentlightsshineoverthelatestZaracollecIonandwomensellsalt-encrustedObwarzankifromkiosksshelteredfromthewind.

Igotobuyoneandfindtwopiecesofpaperinmypocket.Jan’scardandthesquarecut-outfromthefirstbusdriver.ItliststhedepartureImesfromAuschwitzbacktothemodernworld.

It’sonlysmall,butperhapsthiswasthesliverofbeautyandhopethatIwassearchingfor.

CalltoAcIon

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Goingfurther

BooksWritetoSell–AndyMaslenOnWriIng–StephenKingStory-RobertMcKeeBlogsCopybloggerh_p://www.economist.com/styleguide/introducIon

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