A Guide to Better Travel Writing (Part 2): 20 Time-Tested Techniques and Essential Exercises [Flashback]

Posted by Mike Richard on November 17, 2008
Filed under: Flashback, Sidelines

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One year ago today, we continued our Guide to Better Travel Writing Series with 20 Time-Tested Techniques and Essential Exercises, including:

#10 - Rewind Your Writing

Try writing your story in reverse. Start with the last event first and write backwards. Sometimes, if you know where the story’s going, it’s easier to figure out how to get there.

… and:

#19 - Start in the Middle / Kill the Back Story

Well-crafted action movies often jump into the middle of the story to instantly draw the viewer in. This follows from our very first point in part one of this series: “Pack your travel writing like you pack your luggage: load in everything you think you’ll need, then reduce it by half.”

Try “cutting to the chase” - skip the back story in your travel narratives if it’s not germane to the central plot. This forces you to focus only on the juiciest, most engaging bits.

Check out the full post and share your tips with us in the comments section!

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Vagabondish editor, Mike Richard, lives in Rhode Island - a spit of land in the northeastern U.S. He is a professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, camping, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats, small, declarative sentences and speaking in the third person.



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