LAURENCE MACKINreviews Travel Writingby Don George, Lonely Planet, £10.99
Ah, travel writing: surely the easiest job in the world. Lazing on beaches or frittering about on safari, with merely a few words to write, while running up an expenses tab that you will never have to account for. What could be better?
Sadly, this is far from the truth, and this practical guide gets to the nuts and bolts of the business. Part one, which concentrates on the craft of writing, is a useful guide to getting a piece to sing on the page. The second part looks at the more practical elements of the business, from writing pitches and identifying potential stories to advice on getting paid. The third section includes useful resources – the contributor guidelines from four major publications are particularly illuminating.
Don George is enthusiastic and encouraging in his approach. Once you get beyond the initial hand-holding there is plenty of solid advice. The book is surprisingly rigorous, and George packs in plenty of examples to make his points, with extracts from travel writers such as Rory MacLean, Simon Calder and Tahir Shah.
There is no doubting George’s passion, but he pulls no punches when it comes to the financials. “Every year a few dozen people around the globe make a living travelling and writing full-time,” he writes.
His section on how much writers get paid is accurate and honest, and may dismay anyone thinking of packing in the day job to write their way around the globe: fees for articles of 1,000 words come in at £200 to £500 (€225 to €565) in the UK, and expenses are nonexistent.
This, though, is not the main point, and if you want your trips to last longer, and maybe take shape beyond digital pictures, this is a solid place to start. Even those used to seeing their names in print will find a hatful of new tricks worth learning.