I picked this up because, as I’ve probably mentioned before, I have a family vacation coming up (I am definitely not going to be able to shut up about this) and while part of my preparation is figuring where to go, another part is figuring how I’m going to tell stories about my trip when I come back. Hence, this book.

Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing is roughly organised into three sections: the first about the craft of travel writing, the second about the business of travel writing (what it takes to do this full time, the money you can possibly make, and how to get published), while the last section is a collection of resources. Since I’m reading this to learn how to write better, I focused mainly on the first section and only skimmed the last two.

The first section on the craft of travel writing talks about what good writing is (which is like good writing in any other genre), how to find your subject, how to structure the story, and how to write it. There are exercises throughout the chapters which will lead you to writing out the first draft of your story, if you actually do them. The section ends with many interviews with various travel writers about their job, how they got started, and any advice they have on travel writing. Some tips I found useful from this section were:

• The difference between a travel journal and travel writing is structure. Writing down everything that happens (which is what I do) without regard to the purpose of the story is not effective writing.
• While stories are best told through the writer’s eyes, the writer is not the focus of the story.
• Do not assume the reader is as interested in your travels as you are
• While travel writing is about actual events, it “should emulate the best techniques of fiction”

I also really liked this definition of good travel writing by Daisann Mclane, when she’s talking about her favourite travel writers:

“Each takes the reader on amazing journeys to other places, from a village in China to Mormon Utah; decodes other ways of life with great authority, empathy and understanding; makes other cultures, other belief systems accessible to the general reader. All of these writers have fascinating minds, strong points of view, and great passion – whether positive or negative – for the cultures they’re traveling in.” 

Another thing I liked about this section was that there were many, varied examples used for each point. For beginnings, for example, the author used six different examples to show us just how many ways we could write it and why each particular example was a good one. You can also read all the essays at the end of the section, to see how the entire piece was executed. That’s probably why I didn’t have as many technical tips bookmarked – there isn’t one fixed way of writing, although there are general principles.

The second section dealt mainly with the business side of travel writing, talking about the qualities of a good travel writer (frugality is one, because this is apparently not a trade that earns a lot) as well as the different ways of getting published. There’s also a section called “tools of the trade” that talks about what to bring with you on a trip. The section ends with another round of interviews with agents and editors, although I ended skipping these because it wasn’t my interest.

The third and final section is a compilation of resources, from major publishers to writing courses and writers groups. This is organised geographically – UK resources, US resources, and Australian resources. There’s also some sample paperwork here. I pretty much skimmed through this section, although the travel literature classics part did list some books that sound good.

Overall, I thought that this was pretty interesting. I think that this is worth reading even if you’re not planning a career in travel writing. After all, in this day and age, most of us will go on trips and share them in some form or the other – learning how to do that more effectively definitely won’t hurt.