Laurie King of the Travel Writers’ Calendar went to the Travel Classics West Travel Writers Conference at The Sanctuary at Camelback, formerly called Troutbeck. She was kind enough to share what she learned on her website for travel writers.
I liked this nugget.
“You know how in “Writing for Magazines 101” the first thing you learn is to study a lot of publications and tailor your pitch and article for the readers? Well, let’s be clear: tailoring your article is not the same as changing your voice. Or so the editors say. The general consensus from the conference was that editors are looking for good writers with their own distinctive voices. They urged us over and over not to write for the magazine or for the reader, but to write a unique story in a distinctive voice. Keith Bellows, Editor-in-Chief at National Geographic Traveler, says they sometimes play “cover the byline” — they pass around a story and guess who the author is. The best writers are identifiable by their distinctive voices. (OK, so that’s the editors’ point of view. Of course it’s a given that writers still need to understand the magazine and its sections and departments, article lengths and lead times, and the readers’ needs and interests. And hey, we still need to eat and cover the mortgage, too. My conclusion is to write well, in whatever voice will best sell the story.)”
There seem to be more Travel Classics conferences and events in the future, including one in Europe 2005.
Keep your eye on Laurie’s Travel Writers’ News for other things she learned from the editors of Sunset, More, National Geographic Traveler, Art & Antiques, Spa, Town and Country Traveler, Cooking Light, and Bon Appetit