TRAVEL WRITING MAIN PRINCIPLES
A.
From Druker
Write for readers.
Άθ
Show, rather than tell
Άθ
Write to inform your readers about
the place (not about you)
Άθ
Use your experience to show your readers what they
can experience
or to help them learn about a place (don't just describe your unique
experience)
Άθ
Use a story/narration, character, and
place to present facts
Άθ
Place can work as a character
Άθ
Emphasize the main point: make sure
readers know where you are after the first few sentences
Άθ
Use irony to keep things light:
don't preach.
B.
From you (the students)
1.
Provide entertainment.
·
Help the reader escape to a
(new) place.
2.
Help the readers learn something new
·
Facts
·
Give information about places
they might never go
·
Give information about places
they might want to travel to.
3.
Give the readers new insight about the world
·
Analyze, explain, provide a
point of view
·
Do more than tell a personal story. Teach readers about the world (not about
you)
4.
Help readers decide whether/where to go
·
Show readers the possibilities
C.
From Cahill
1.
Tell a story
2.
Get the facts correct
3.
“Enter the realm of literature” by
a.
Providing insights and a point of view
b.
Analyzing information
c.
Finding an “overarching story”
d.
Selecting scenes, stories, facts to fit the “overarching” story
e.
Focusing/organizing ideas for emotional impact
4.
Write about issues that matter
a.
Don’t preach
5.
Take the reader somewhere (but
that “somewhere” doesn’t need to be distant
or exotic)