By Carol Oldham O'Hara
Escape into the world and live to write about it. The travel writing life is like no other, sending you into seamy hideaways and opulent hotels around the globe, and your stories could pay for your travel -- much of the time.
To win as a traveling wordsmith, you must love new faces and places and want to write about them. You must also forget forever being a tourist. Each trip becomes a story, or even many stories, and you're always at work, no matter where you are -- investigating, interviewing, interpreting. You'll show every experience -- from dreaming upon a down pillow to dining in a local dive -- drawing upon your senses for lively words to make those moments come alive for your readers. So many times their treks are based upon your travels.
You'll also pack fewer duds -- a plus with today's airline restrictions -- and place business cards in every pocket. You'll tote more than one camera, manila envelopes to mail burdensome brochures home, pads, pencils, pens, and of course a notebook computer along with other small electronic devices of your choosing. You'll add an open mind and enough sense of adventure to deviate from a planned itinerary in pursuit of a story -- the one you didn't know existed.
And you'll never return home without anything to look forward to; for while you write your stories from where you've just been, your heart will leap as you plot your next escape.
Give travel writing a try, if you haven't already, and the world could become your home.
No comments:
Post a Comment