The Travel Writer’s Handbook by Jacqueline Harmon Butler & Louise Purwin Zobel

Author:Jacqueline Harmon Butler & Louise Purwin Zobel [Butler, Harmon Jacqueline; Zobel, Purwin Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Agate Publishing, Inc.

CHAPTER 9

Follow the Reader

Who is your reader? The avid traveler or the armchair traveler? The younger, active hikers or the older, easy-going travelers? Sometimes addressing a particular type of traveler will be important in your stories and articles. Keep your reader in mind when you query an outlet or when you actually write the piece. The approach used on a story for Backpacker magazine might not appeal to the AARP crowd. Readers—and editors—really appreciate that special information that comes from your personal research. Put yourself in your readers’ place. Remember, you are their advance man. While you’re there, get all the information your readers might need or want, and record it carefully, so you can pass it on. While you might not use all the information you gather, it will help you conjure up images that will help your readers get an understanding of just what the place is all about.

For example, tell them, “Windy San Francisco street corners make the woman with the wraparound skirt wish she’d worn something else,” or “If you’re going on a house boat and you like to work crossword puzzles, don’t forget to take along a pencil,” or “Theater ushers and restroom attendants in many countries expect to be tipped.” Explain to first-time ship cruisers that glamorous evening clothes aren’t really necessary and that nobody “dresses” the first and last nights or whenever the ship’s in port. Mention the fifty-six-degree temperature at Carlsbad Caverns, and the fact that 11,400-foot Cuzco is apt to be cold in the evenings and early mornings, even if it’s shirtsleeve weather at noon in nearby Machu Picchu. Remind them that August is when much of the population of Europe goes on vacation so many restaurants and shops will be closed. The weather in many European countries is sizzling in August and sometimes into September. Because of all the stone and water, Venice can be freezing in the winter and steaming in the summer. Remind them that although it may be summer above the equator, it’s winter below the equator. These little tidbits of information can help the traveler decide when and where to go.

Suggest they have birth certificates notarized for Mexico, observing that a friend had to cancel a trip when she couldn’t find a notary at the airport. Give them the benefit of your experience by encouraging early reservations for camping space in California’s state parks or for New Year’s at the Williamsburg Inn. Whenever possible, investigate different travel styles while you’re in the area you’ll be writing about. Your reader may opt for accommodations, recreation, or sightseeing very different from what you, personally, would choose. You owe him the courtesy of checking out the entire scene. If you’re staying at a youth hostel, go to the best hotel in town. (Make sure you are properly dressed. Katsu Miyata found this out when he attempted to duck into the Hotel Ritz for a drink while following in Ernest Hemingway’s footsteps, wearing shorts, and was turned away.) Stroll through the lobby, order a snack in the coffee shop, window shop the boutiques.

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