Spring Travel Writing Classes

Ready to return to those rough drafts you began before Christmas? Need some extra coaching to get you back in the game? How about spring training for travel writers? Here are two classes that I wish I could take. If you can do one or both, you should!

UCLA Extension Travel Writing Online Course with Jim Benning

Dates: April 11 – June 13

Location: Online

Cost: $475

Instructor: The teacher, our WorldHum friend and founder Jim Benning, is a freelance writer who has had work published in National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Westways, and Los Angeles Times.

Details: No Textbook Required — the best kind of class! Additional details are here. Looks like registration is still open, but enrollment is limited, so hurry up if you want in. [via Travelwriters.com]

An online guide in writing techniques for turning a weekend trip, vacation, or other travel experience into features for newspapers or magazines. Course content includes tips for capturing atmosphere, color, and mood with words and camera. Students practice writing queries, features and essays, and receive editorial and marketing suggestions. Topics include research methods; information sources; reporting techniques; markets; developing story focus; and deciding on length, content, and style.

Media Bistro Travel Writing Boot Camp with James Sturz

Dates: Tuesdays, May 31-July 19, 7-10 p.m.

Location: Soho, NY

Cost: $499 ($475 for Media Bistro AvantGuild members)

Instructor: James Sturz has taught English in Bologna, Italy, worked in publishing in New York, and spent three years on staff at Vanity Fair. In addition to the novel Sasso, he has written for more than 60 newspapers and magazines. A piece he wrote is included in the new coffee-table anthology Italy: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times. [Extended bio provided at the details link below.]

Details: Students must have one year of journalism experience and there is an admission requirement — Submit a letter of interest, including a brief work history, and a writing sample. The writing sample must not exceed 2,000 words and does not have to be travel-related. Additional information and registration info can be found here.

This class is an advanced look at the romance and realities of travel writing. Over the course of eight three-hour sessions, the seminar will consider the various forms of the field, from heavily reported service pieces to first-person essays from the road. Be warned, though. This is not a course for people looking to score free trips or work their way onto the travel junket circuit. It is a rigorous course that requires a commitment of at least eight hours a week of outside work.

Each week, students will be assigned a travel-related article up to 1,000 words in length. The assignments will be based on prototypes from major travel magazines and the goal is to sell pieces to local, regional, and national publications. Travel is a requirement for several assignments. Students will read aloud their completed assignments along with a completed pitch letter. The pieces then will be critiqued by the group and finally by the instructor. Though subject to change, assignments are likely to include a travel-related news item or trend story; a service round-up on hotels or local attractions; a destination piece on a cultural landmark; a day trip within the region; a historical research piece on a neighborhood, local tradition, or attraction; an article on the tourism business; and a personal travel essay.