Then why your negative take on travel writing if that's how you make a living?

I take a negative viewpoint on certain kinds of travel writing.

I mentioned some writers that I liked; the travel-journalism of V.S. Naipaul is some of the best writing I have ever seen. In fact, that kind of stuff is the shit that made me want to be a writer, made me realize the power of words in the first place.

Robert D. Kaplan, very hard edged, political travel writing. Good stuff.

Paul Theroux.

The worst of the worst however, is writing for like..people who want to go on a trip. Go here, eat there, stay here. Why not write fucking..instruction manuals for General Electric or something.

Sometimes I go to those stories, they have them here..about like..what to see in Atlanta or..I don't know, where to eat in Hong Kong. There is no artistry to these kinds of things, no creativity. It is writing to be used..it's 'useful.' I don't like practical writing..funcional writing. Some people may do it and it may make them happy, but I am not one of those people.

quote:

The worst of the worst however, is writing for like..people who want to go on a trip.

Yeah, I know the type – they probably send cheery postcards of the places they visit back to the folks at home as well – cheeky bastards. Of course functional travel writing can have its place – as anyone who’s tried to schedule a rail journey across China using only Theroux’s Riding the Iron Rooster as a timetable guide will tell you.

Barukh, I see your point of view.

Personally I do not consider VS Naipal to be travel writing per se. I would consider his work to be literature. I would not go looking for any of his novels in the travel section of Waterstones. However there are heaps of best-selling Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux who appeal to the masses. I suppose everyone has their own likes and dislikes when it comes to writing. That doesn't necessarily make the happy bunny and kitten travel stories any less valid than the dirty, lonely and frustrating ones.

Yeah, Naipaul is not travel writing but it is..I guess..worldly. It deals with global stuff..ideas, movements, psychological tendancies of mass groups of people..

I was reading a review of an old Naipual book A A Turn in the South. The methods described in this short article (below are excerpts) are the kinds of things I like to read and write.

'Naipaul is not interested in presenting amusing incidents, amusing characters or (as is more often the case in popular travel-writing) caricatures. He is not interested, in short, in amusing the reader. He wants to understand the people and the society, and he want to pass on to the reader some of that understanding. In no way does this mean that his writing is dull and boring. Quite the contrary. But it does mean that this book is not for readers who want travel-writing which is focused on the author and his or her funny encounters with the strange customs of an alien society.

Naipaul meets and listens to people from all parts of the community, old and young, radical and liberal, religious and atheistic, black and white. His voyage of discovery takes him (to quote chapter headings) to Atlanta, Charleston, Tallahassee, Tuskegee, Jackson, Nashville and Chapel Hill.

He is delighted by the description of rednecks given to him by a man named Campbell. "It might have been an updated version of something from Elizabethan low-life writing," he notes, "or John Earle's Microcosmography, or something from Sir Thomas Overbury." It was a comprehensive, lyrical, detailed description of a group ("a tribe," as it seems to Naipaul) and he reproduces it for the reader from his notes. "Art hallows, creates, makes one see," Naipaul writes at this point, and Campbell's description made him see and understand something about a group with its own special code of thought, dress and customs, people he came to think of as "unlikely descendants of the frontiersman."

In other encounters, Naipaul hears from Eudora Welty about the sense of richness and continuity which she feels comes from living in a frontier state like Mississippi, where origins are important, change is slow, and you get to know the generations. He is intrigued by the artistic methods of country-music songwriter Bob McDill, and by the insight into the Memphis music business which he gets from producer Allen Reynolds. He visits Elvis Presley's birthplace and is prompted to muse on the power of "a man of the people" who makes good: it is something which he recognizes from the success of local politicians in Trinidad.'


Do I write like that? No, of course not. Someone else writes like that, but..it's what I like to read. I like things that are written simply and honestly, that aren't afraid to offend, that, like I said before, that deal with ideas and history, not humour.

I got another rejection letter today - Yeah me!!!! Don't I feel special!!

Yo that sucks.

From where?

At least the had the manners to tell you..some places are just like..'fuck you' and don't say anything.

What did you write about?

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Originally posted by delara:
However there are heaps of best-selling Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux who appeal to the masses.

I read one book by Bill Bryson about travel in Europe, and I was less than impressed. It was all about him, not the places he visited. Who cares? The reason I read travel storys is to get a feel for the places not reading about the time Bill was going to the bar in the hotel, but the elevator was broke so he had to take the stairs, but when he came down to the right floor the door was locked but he got in eventually and could only get peanuts to eat. Huh?

Hey gents, if you'd like to continue discussing different travel writing styles: good v bad, I've started up a topic here to discuss.

Don't want to get too far off topic here!

quote:

Originally posted by Barukh:
Yo that sucks.

From where?

At least the had the manners to tell you..some places are just like..'fuck you' and don't say anything.

What did you write about?

It was a travel issue of a literary magazine and I wrote about 6 months I spent in Egypt. But you're 100% right - I'd rather a polite PFO than silence.

quote:

Originally posted by markus:
Hmm, I don't want to jinx anything from going through but I'm currently negotiating a fee for a story that I posted here which is to be included in a textbook due out early 2005.

Got the cheque (double what I thought it would be) and my copy of the textbook in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

Very happy to see my name in print for the first time and also that I was listed in the index alongside David Suzuki and Margaret Atwood.

quote:

Originally posted by markus:
Very happy to see my name in print for the first time and also that I was listed in the index alongside David Suzuki and Margaret Atwood.

WOW!!! This little black cat just turned green with envy. Kudos to you Markus - will I be able to find it in my local bookstore?

quote:

Originally posted by Jen102:
Hi-
I just wanted to get a feel for just how hard the travel writer's market is.
Have you sold a story? Are you currently building your name by posting online for free? What is your view of penetrating this market?

I have decent editorial connections at an inflight mag which pays well, they've bought my stories, and paid me the most I've ever been paid for one piece. But my work is more profiles and features instead of "travel" specifically, so, I think I need to keep pitching them if I want to build my portfolio towards travel journalism.

Unfortunately I dont have the luxury to do much online work and not get paid, but I'm trying to motivate myself because I know it will be good for me!

A couple of random thoughts about getting a travel article published.

Larger travel magazines receive a staggering amount of queries and submissions, so approaching smaller or even non-travel publications (provided they run some travel content) can pay off.

Rejections feel personal but rarely are. Either use them as motivation or have a few things on the go so when the next one arrives (& for most freelancers there’s always a next one) you have other avenues to explore.

If your aim is to get published then the question of your writing style is already decided - have a look at a couple of back issues of the magazine you’re approaching and write your query/article in a similar fashion.

Apart from this all you need is dedication, application, a reasonable amount of ability and (of course) luck.