Travel Writing 101: Meet Other Travelers and Improve Your Craft
Experienced travelers are beginning to demand more substance with their sightseeing, and learning vacations are a popular way to combine intellectual stimulation with entertainment and relaxation. If you’re passionate about travel, and love meeting like-minded people, you may want to try a weekend travel writing seminar.
I attended three well-known courses last year, and while I’m already a full time freelance writer, what I really enjoyed was swapping stories over breakfast or dinner with other experienced globetrotters. At each of the three weekend sessions, group size varied from 15 to over 50 attendees, and while the age range was predominantly 35 +, there were a handful of adventurous twenty-somethings at each event. Couples were represented at all of the gatherings, but most attendees were traveling solo, which made mingling effortless. While all of the seminars are focused on travel writing, each one had a distinct focus, colored by the personalities and expertise of the presenters. All of the classes welcome active travelers who may not be pursuing a professional writing career but, as Herb Hiller of the SATW Institute puts it, “want to travel more authoritatively and keep better journals.”
SPEND A WEEKEND IN ORLANDO WITH THE GUYS WHO REALLY DID WRITE THE BOOK
The annual SATW (Society of American Travel Writers) Institute for Travel Writing and Photography is held in Orlando, Florida at a historic B & B called the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne. Actually a collection of three charming Victorian houses and an Art Deco building of suites, the Courtyard offers a garden setting in the heart of downtown Orlando.
This is no Mickey Mouse learning vacation. It could be titled “Everything You Ever Need to Know About Writing a Travel Guide Book”, and the faculty members are all well-known pros with hundreds of published articles and books to their collective credit.
A group of about 35 attendees learn the A to Z process of writing a travel guidebook , from the manuscript proposal stage to organizing an outline, making your own maps, and creating a time management plan. Moon Handbooks author Bruce Whipperman handles the detailed and methodical “How to Do the Work ” segment, while author Tom Brosnahan (Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, Berlitz) gives you the inside scoop on contracts and possible pitfalls. Institute Chairman Herb Hiller shares his own book proposal as an example of how to pitch your idea, and self-published author Tim O’Keefe candidly discusses the pros and cons of D.I.Y. publishing. CNN correspondent Lee Foster is a veteran photographer and travel writer who hopped on the Internet bandwagon in the early days, and now has photographs and editorial content for over 200 destinations on his website. Foster shares his vision of electronic travel publishing, and also leads the photography discussion on digital versus film shooting, both hot topics for veteran attendees , as well as newcomers. Steve Blount, editorial director of the World Publications Magazine Group, provided both insight and comic relief with his presentation “Tsuris”, which means “many headaches”. Pointing out that “Tsuris” is an editor’s job description, Blount ran down his top ten list of pet peeves when dealing with writers. Heading up the list at number one : “DO NOT SPELL MY NAME WRONG!”
LAID BACK AND LITERARY IN KEY WEST
Robert Haru Fisher, former editor-in-chief for Fodor Travel Guides, former SATW president and currently an executive editor for www.frommers.com, hosts an intimate travel writing workshop each winter in Key West. Classes are held in the Robert Frost Cottage on the grounds of the Heritage House Museum in the heart of the old city, a fitting venue for this literary-flavored course. Fisher’s class centers around the craft of good feature writing in general, with a focus on travel articles as opposed to guidebooks. Whether he is quoting from Sol Stein’s handbook for writers, or leading a critique of previously published travel articles, his soft-spoken and thoughtful approach will remind you of your favorite college lit professor. With a small group that averages around 15 attendees, this seminar offers much more opportunity for individual questions and class discussion, as well as for actual writing. Fisher assigns three homework pieces, which include a restaurant review, a feature, and a travel essay which are then critiqued by the group on the following day. Two of the biggest benefits of this course are that each student gets a half-hour one-on-one session with Fisher, and he offers to take an article home with him and give it the benefit of his years of professional editing experience. The atmosphere in the Frost cottage, or in the tropically-landscaped courtyard where classes frequently assembled, was relaxed and social, more like an informal gathering of professional colleagues than a strictly scheduled series of lectures.
AN OVERVIEW FOR THE NOVICE WRITER IN THE BIG APPLE
The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop, sponsored by Agora Travel and the many related companies under its corporate umbrella, is by far the largest, of the three seminars. The summer session , held in New York in 2005, drew a record-breaking 65 wanna-be travel writers, Agora’s biggest turnout in history. Based on the print course by Jennifer Stevens, former editor of Agora’s publication International Living, this class is designed for beginning writers, with a focus on teaching attendees to write short, descriptive travel vignettes called “postcards”. The group here was composed of mature and experienced travelers, many of whom were retired or self-employed, but for the most part had no professional writing experience. The faculty included author Jennifer Stevens, copywriter John Ford, American Writer’s & Artists Institute’s Lori Appling , travel writer and photographer Blair Howard, web publisher Tom Schueneman of www.touristtravel.com, and Irish travel writer Steenie Harvey. Harvey’s self-deprecating humor and practical advice on query letters, pitching editors, and the pros and cons of press junkets, were an informative and refreshing counterpoint to the extensive lecture and slide presentations. Students take home a comprehensive workbook that covers all of the course material and exercises, including a mini-directory of publications and websites that are open to working with beginning writers.
IF YOU GO
The SATW Institute For Travel Writing & Photography, scheduled for January 27-29, 2006 , is geared to professional writers, with an emphasis on guidebooks. Registration fees are $345 for the general public and $245 for SATW members, with a hotel conference rate of $89 per night at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne. Your fee includes two continental breakfasts, two catered lunches and two dinners. If you’re not a writer, but love to talk travel, you’ll still enjoy socializing with this group of pros although the course work may be a bit overwhelming. (www.satw.org)
Robert Fisher’s 2006 Travel Writing Workshop will be held on two weekends, January 20th -23rd and January 27th-30th in Key West. The registration fee of $275 includes a welcome cocktail reception on the first evening, two full day sessions, and an individual appointment with Fisher on the final day. This course will appeal to anyone who wants to improve their writing skills, whether for professional or personal use, and the small group allows you to really get to know your fellow participants. Hemingway’s Key West is the perfect setting for this academically-oriented weekend. (www.heritagehousemuseum.org)
The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop is, by far, the largest and the most expensive of the seminars, at $ 1295 per person, not including transportation or hotels. This workshop moves around each year, with generally one U.S. and one overseas location so you’ll need to check the website at www.thetravelwriterslife.com for 2006 dates and locations.
This is the comprehensive beginner’s class, specifically targeted at retirees who may want to offset their travel expenses by selling a few articles. The large class size and rigid lecture schedule make it a little more difficult to connect one-on-one with either instructors or other students, but if you’re interested in learning about the techniques of travel writing, the course and the workbook will give you a detailed introduction to the genre.
As Mark Twain said, ” Broad, wholesome charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” If you share that philosophy and wanderlust, and have a desire to write about it, a travel writing seminar might be a great destination in, and of, itself.
