1. travel

Chapter 9
How To Imagine Stories That
Will Sell Every Time
“The most solid advice... for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to
breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep,
really sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your
might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry,
get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”
— William Saroyan

P
eople ask me all the time how I find so many things to write
about. It’s true. I seem always to be working on one project
or another — and usually I’m working on several different stories at once. At one point recently, for example, I was writing
about a new spa in Belize, an emerging retirement destination
in Mexico’s Yucatan, real-estate deals in Nicaragua, and a littleknown diving destination in the Caribbean.
The truth is I come by my ideas in all sorts of places. Some “land
in my lap,” so to speak, on press releases. Others occur to me while
I’m reading, working on other projects, talking with friends and
contacts, listening to the radio, or watching TV.
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I, like other travel writers, find ideas almost everywhere. The key, you’ll learn,
is in recognizing the core of a unique idea... fleshing it out so it’s worthy of
a full-length story... and then following through by putting pen to paper (or
hands to keyboard) to really write it.
Use Press Releases as Springboards
One easy place to find article ideas is through press releases. Hotels, tour
companies, tourist boards, manufacturers of travel products, travel-book publishers, and other firms and organizations send out press releases regularly
to editors of publications and to freelance writers in hopes of attracting some
publicity.
I’ve devoted an upcoming chapter in this program to the best ways for you to
get your name on press-release lists, so I won’t go into that here.
Instead, let’s examine, for a moment, a couple of press releases I’ve received
to give you an idea of how you can take a press-release “blurb” and turn it into
a full-blown article idea.
Example 1 — Press Release from
the Tourism Authority of Thailand
Titled “Upcoming Events,” this 11-page press release gives a calendar with
dates and short descriptions of festivals and special events scheduled for the
coming months. I’ve excerpted a few entries here:
Oct 7-8 B
uffalo Races in Chonburi (Thailand’s East Coast) The water
buffalo remains the Thai farmer’s best friend and takes his
honored place among his human confederates in an annual
festival that allows both man and beast to have some fun away
from the rigors of plowing. In addition to the buffalo races, there
are contests that pit animal against man, a beauty pageant, and
food fests that appeal to every palate.
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Nov 10-11 B
ang Sai Loi Krathong (Central Thailand)
Bangsai Royal Arts & Crafts Center, Ayutthaya
Held during the full moon in November, this event features
the launching of traditional krathings (floral floats).
Demonstrations and exhibitions of local handicrafts make
this a must-see.
Nov-Dec S
unflower Blooming Season in Mae Hong Son (Northern
Thailand) The hills and valleys of Mae Hong Son turn a bright
golden when the sunflowers bloom. The countryside is at its
most photogenic at Doi Mae U-kor in Amphoe Khun Yuam.
You should think of press releases as springboards. In my experience, it’s rare
that a writer picks up a story idea just as it’s written in a press release. Instead,
look in press releases for the cores of ideas... for something you can expand
upon. Press releases are, in my view, just a place to get the juices flowing.
Consider this event schedule from Thailand, for instance. I can think of two
ideas offhand that could well make saleable articles if you targeted the right
publications and arranged your travel so that you could be in Thailand to see
some of these events:
1. A story about off-the-wall festivals in Thailand — to include not just the
Buffalo races but several other events as well. The focus could be time-sensitive. You could write about why fall is the best time to travel to Thailand
because it’s then that you can take in the most exotic of festivals. Then you
could profile three to five of them.
2. Traveling to Thailand in November or December might be the ideal time
to do a photo-essay that would go along with a piece about exploring rural
Thailand. You could visit the towns mentioned in the press-release blurb
about sunflowers and other, nearby communities to write about Thailand’s
extraordinary off-the-beaten-track communities where the drama of the
landscape draws you in and the warm welcome you receive makes it difficult to leave.
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Success Clue
From freelancer Rose Burke in Paris
When Using Press Releases:
• DO contact the PR official • DO add your own knowledge
• DO verify the information • DO rewrite the release in your own style
• DO add extra research
• DON’T pass off a release as a story
Example 2 — Press Release from
Alice Marshall Public Relations
From this public relations firm in New York, I received a press release about
new services and facilities open at two luxury hotels in the Caribbean. The
text reads:
“Only an hour’s flight from Miami, Parrot Cay, a 56-room private island resort, has a
variety of new things to heighten guests’ experiences. The list includes the completion
of Shambhala (a 6,000-square-foot holistic retreat overlooking the sea), adding
private pools and sun decks to all the beach houses, extending restaurant hours
(now two restaurants serve dinner every day), appointing Amanda Gale as the new
Executive Chef, adding a special guest services center, and increasing staff—now
three persons per room. Additionally, three new single beach cottages and one
three-bedroom villa are scheduled to open in December. Fall rates begin at $520 and
include airport transfers, breakfast, dinner, non-motorized water sports, mountain
bikes, and the use of tennis and fitness facilities. Reservations can be made by calling
(649) 946 7789 or toll-free within the U.S. (877) 754 0726.
“A few islands away on St. Barts, with its French-infused restaurants, shopping, and
night life, lies Hotel Guanahani, the island’s largest resort. This year, Guanahani
completed extensive renovations on both of its restaurants, L’Indigo and Bartolomeo.
The hotel has re-paved all beach paths and also added new water sport facilities.
The tropical gardens surrounding the resort’s Creole-style villas now flourish more
than ever with new irrigation systems. Fall rates begin at $470 and include breakfast,
non-motorized water sports, use of tennis and fitness facilities, and tax and service.
Reservations may be made by calling the hotel directly on (590) 27 66 60 or through
The Leading Hotels of the World (800) 223 6800.”
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Now, where might you go with this information? Can you think of an idea or
two for a story? Here’s what I’ve come up with:
You could do a standard “hotel review” piece by visiting one of these facilities
and then writing up a profile for publication. Many magazines — from Travel
+ Leisure to National Geographic Traveler — publish hotel profiles regularly.
But can you think of another, more interesting way to use this information?
I’m struck by the fact that the first hotel, Parrot Cay, sits on its own island.
You might find a buyer for a story about the person who started and runs this
hotel. Perhaps Islands magazine or Caribbean Travel & Life would be interested in a profile about this person with vision and gumption who bought a
deserted island, transformed it into a luxury paradise, and is making a go of it.
With all the renovations that seem to have been recently
completed at the Hotel Guanahani, I’m curious about what
prompted them. Is there suddenly new hotel competition on the
island? Would it be worth traveling there to visit a handful of
hotels to do a round-up piece about the best places to stay? Perhaps the renovations were made in response to hurricane damage.
Your story might be about how this hotel — and maybe others,
too — are recovering and what they’re doing to attract new
business.
You get the idea... you take the information from a press release and create
something more substantive from it. In the last paragraph, I made some conjectures about why that hotel had made so many renovations. Now, I don’t
know, in fact, why. But those are the kinds of questions I would ask of the
public-relations contact listed on the press release. And once I had some more
information, I’d be better able to define my story idea.
Read, Read, and Then Read Some More
More often than not, I find my story ideas not on press releases, but elsewhere.
I read extensively... so should you. And not just travel-related information,
either.
If you’d like to write about international destinations, then keep tabs on the
politics in countries around the world so you know what’s going on there. If
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you plan to write about things around
where you live — whether it’s a B&B
in the next town over, the farmer’s market that’s worth a visit, or the county
fair — then make sure you keep tabs on
your local events.
Read the newspaper, grab that free poetry publication at the coffee shop and
study the ads... you never know where
you’ll notice something that will catch
your eye and give you an idea for a
story.
Read newspapers, books,
magazines, Internet articles,
cereal boxes...everything
you can get your hands on.
Something you come across
may trigger an idea for a
related story.
Read newspapers, books, magazines, Internet articles, cereal boxes...everything you can get your hands on. Something you come across may trigger an
idea for a related story. You have to start thinking about the many different
ways you can make information accessible to different audiences. Remember,
every different audience you can think of to write to equals a new writing opportunity — because that new audience demands a new story angle.
For example, one year an Associated Press writer did a news story about
Baltimore’s open-air film festival, held each summer in that city’s Little Italy
neighborhood. The AARP magazine followed up with a profile on the elderly
gentleman from whose window the movies are projected. The first story triggered the second.
Listen to the Radio... Eavesdrop on Conversations...
Pay Attention to the Local Hullabaloo
Listen to the radio news, to talk shows... even to conversations around you.
What are people talking about, preoccupied with, angry over? Is there an
angle you haven’t heard discussed? You might think about how a citywide
issue relates to your smaller neighborhood or how other communities might
have resolved whatever issue is preoccupying yours.
For example, a controversial issue where a friend of mine lives in Baltimore is
whether or not to let bars within a designated 40-block radius stay open past
the 2:00 a.m. close time and shut their doors, instead, at 4:00 a.m. Now, this
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might at first glance appear to have had nothing to do with travel writing. But
it has me thinking.
I wonder if the local Baltimore paper might be interested in a travel/entertainment story about the bars and clubs in nearby Washington, DC that already
stay open until 4:00 a.m. It would be a timely piece, and I could write about
where they are, how each crowd “hangs out” in each place. And if the Baltimore paper isn’t interested, perhaps Washington magazine would be... or
I could try a monthly music magazine that profiles destinations. (I imagine
there is one.)
You see, by simply staying on top of local events, by listening to what people
are talking about, I’ve been able to come up with a story idea that just might
sell. You can do the same thing.
Insider Tip:
What Makes a Great Article for International Living?
One of the best pieces we published was in the November 2003 issue of
IL. It was from a reader, telling the story of how he and his wife bought a
lot and built a home on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Then a hurricane
hit, and the place was leveled. They lost everything. Had to deal with
putting in an insurance claim, which turned out to be a big hassle. Went
through a real ordeal. But decided, in the end, to rebuild. I liked this piece
so much (and will remember it, as I think the readers will) because it was
so real. Because it was a good story, told in a simple, straightforward
way, and giving real-world insights.
– Kathleen Peddicord
Former Editor and Publisher, International Living
Do Not Be Shy... Strike Up That Conversation
Talk to anyone and everyone. You never know when a simple conversation
will trigger a story idea. For example, I was in France in a chocolate shop in
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this tiny town, talking with the owner. I asked how business had been. And he
told me that he put a website up on the Internet that had recently boosted his
business by 50 percent.
It wasn’t that a sudden preponderance of French people ordered candy by
mail... but instead, having seen his site, visitors from around the country
stopped by when they were in the area touring. Are there stories there?
You bet: a profile of this gentleman for France magazine, maybe, or even a
piece on the delicacies of France. This guy makes chocolates. In the next town
over, the specialty is macaroons. I could focus a travel story on this region
of France around each town’s special treats. Perhaps I could sell it to a food
magazine that publishes travel articles (as many of them do) or even to my
local paper’s travel section. As it turns out, this is a little-visited region of the
country and this somewhat oddball focus might well be of interest to an editor
looking for a new way to cover a country that writers write about all the time.
Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Watch what’s going on around you. When you’re on the road to do research,
take notes about what you see in a new place and about your impressions.
Notice details like colors and temperature, the time it takes to get from one
place to the next, the way locals react to tourists and to you. You’ll find these
bits of information can not only trigger article ideas but also come in very
handy when you’re actually writing.
For example, I’ve been traveling in Mexico recently, and I’ve been astounded
by the wonderful, affordable shopping in many of the markets. I’m also in the
midst of buying things for a new home... and so I’ve had my eyes peeled wherever I go. And it occurs to me that I might put together an article about the best
places in Mexico to buy home furnishings.
In Oaxaca, Tlaquepaque, and Guadalajara,
for example, you can find everything from
hand-painted bathroom sinks and tiles to
copper doorknobs and fine mirrors —
at a fraction of the cost of similar
items in the States. I’ve got on
my to-do list an article about
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the best places to track down various items (with sidebars about where to stay
and what other things to do) that I hope to sell to a home-renovation magazine...
or maybe turn it into a holiday-related piece and write about the best places in
Mexico to go Christmas shopping.
Just as you should make note of what’s going on around you when you’re
traveling, it’s wise to do the same even when you’re puttering about near
home. Take note of a park that’s been cleaned up or a new shop or restaurant.
If there’s a construction boom, find out what’s going up... you might get a
jump on a profile of a new hot spot.
Quick Tip:
What Is a Mistake You Typically See New Writers Make?
Thinking that the nobody’s-ever-been-here-before aspect of a
destination makes it a good travel story. There are zillions of places nobody’s been or nobody’s written about — often for a very good reason
(usually, there’s not a lot of reason to go!).
– Randall Curwin
Travel Editor, The Chicago Tribune
Create a Clip File...the Junk Drawer of Story Ideas
“Clips” are stories you tear out of publications as you see them — things that
trigger story ideas. I think of my clip file as my junk drawer of story ideas.
Whenever an idea occurs to me — no matter how irrelevant to what I might
be working on at the time — I jot it down on a piece of paper and toss it into a
file folder I’ve labeled “Story Ideas.” Into this same folder go “clips” or stories by other writers that trigger ideas. (Usually, I’ll put a yellow sticky paper
on the top with my related idea on it.)
Another useful clip file I keep is event-and holiday-specific. If I go to an annual festival that I think I could write about for the following year, I pick up
lots of brochures and maps and such, clip them together, and drop them in this
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file. It helps, too, to scribble the holiday or time of year onto the info so it’s
easy to find when you go hunting for it.
Remember, publications often want seasonal stories many months in advance.
So if you’ve got an idea for a Christmas story... August is not too early to start
querying publications about whether they’d be interested in publishing your
piece.
I keep a third clip file of articles I’ve enjoyed reading — examples of strong
writing by other people. (I suggested you do the same back in Chapter 2.)
When I start working on a type of story I haven’t written in a while or something that’s altogether new to me, I’ll flip through this “favorites” file of mine
and see if I don’t have an example of something similar that I thought was
done well.
Just as we did in the early chapters of this program when we went through
some examples of well-written articles and analyzed what, exactly, the writers
had done... I do the same on my own. It helps, often, to get the juices flowing.
And I always learn new things when I study these pieces.
I keep one last kind of clip file as well — a series of folders that are my country files. Each country I’ve written about — or would like to write about
— has a folder. I clip out of magazines and newspapers anything I see that’s
about these countries. Sometimes, I don’t even take the time to read the article. I simply tear it out and drop it into the folder. That way, when I go to write
about that place, I’ve got the beginnings of my research ready to go.
I’ve been at this for years, and these files of mine are starting to take up a
good bit of space in my office. I’ve been toying with the idea of scanning all
this material into my computer and keeping it on disks — maybe one disk per
destination. Another freelancer I know swears by this method.
Don’t Leave Home Without Pen and Paper
Another habit I’ve developed over the years is to always keep on hand a pad
of paper and a pen. When I travel, I take along those “steno” pads with cardboard covers and spiral bindings. They’re good in the rain and you can slide
the pen into the binding for safekeeping. (I use a ballpoint pen ever since that
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trip to Belize years ago when my notes — not in a steno pad, and written in
ink — bled into each other in a rainstorm.)
Also, I keep a little pad of paper and something to scribble with next to my bed.
I know it sounds a bit excessive, but more often than you might think, something on the late-night news or in a book I’m reading will trigger a story idea.
And so it never hurts to have something on hand with which to write it down.
The Best Ideas Are Specific, Unique, and Targeted
Now that we’ve gone through the best ways for you to harvest your story
ideas, the next step is to sift through them and improve upon them. The best
story ideas are specific, unique, and targeted to a particular audience. If you’re
anything like me, what you’ll scribble on a scrap of paper and toss into your
clip file will most often be just the core of an idea... something that struck you
as a possibility for a piece, but not something you’ve really thought out.
So when you sit down to decide on the actual story you’d like to write, you
must make sure that your idea is:
1. Specific. Don’t send a letter to a publication asking if the editor is
interested in a piece about Belize. Instead, ask if he’d be interested
in an article about the best jungle lodge or the top spots to invest in
real estate.
2. Unique. If you’ve been reading a lot of travel stories, you’ll
develop a sense after a few months for what’s run-of-the-mill and
what’s new. Also, by keeping country files, you’ll have on hand
some examples of what other people have written about the place
you’re going to write about — so you’ll know in what ways your piece will
need to be different. I’ve found that one way to keep ideas unique is to think
about what the stereotypical view of a place is and write to counter it. If most
people know about the diving in the Bahamas, then you write about the hiking
trails.
3. Targeted to a particular audience. When you target a particular
audience with your story idea, it becomes a stronger idea. Here’s
what I mean: If I were to write to the readers of Walking magazine
about St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, my story would, most
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likely, be about the trails there — the best walks, the best guide, the best time
of year to go, maybe the best “outdoor” hotels to stay in. That story is specific and it’s unique — at least to the readers of Walking magazine. While you
might find stories about St. John elsewhere, it’s not run-of-the-mill fare for
Walking.
Exercise #8
Over the Next Three Days, Come Up with Three Targeted
Story Ideas
1. If you haven’t done so yet, grab a couple of file folders or three-ring spiral
binders and create for yourself “clip files.” Make one your “Story Ideas”
file into which you’ll drop articles that trigger an idea in your mind for a
story you might write. Mark the second “Favorites” or “Good Articles” and
use it to store articles that strike you as particularly well-written or which
grab you in some way — maybe you like the way the author has structured
his piece or the way he’s woven facts and advice into his story, for example.
2. If you’ve worked through the exercises thus far in this program, you’ve
subscribed to a few travel publications and have, I hope, been reading them.
Again, if you’ve yet to do so, go back through those publications now and
see if any articles spark ideas. If so, tear them out, scribble your ideas down
on pieces of paper, and clip or staple them to the relevant articles.
3. While you’re reading, also tear out articles you think are done particularly
well. (You’ll know which ones... you won’t be able to put them down.)
Then keep them in your “Favorites” folder so you’ll have them to come
back to later.
4. Remember, you can find ideas in all sorts of places — not just in other
articles. So now it’s up to you to do it. For the next three days, pay particular attention to what you hear on the radio, see on TV, and hear on the
street. Tune into a talk show and listen to the news. Think about what kinds
of stories you might write that relate to the shows you’re watching and to
the conversations you overhear when you listen in on what people around
you are talking about. Come up with at least one article idea over each of
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the next three days. (Once you put your mind to this — you’ll find you see
story ideas almost everywhere you look. You won’t have trouble coming up
with three. The trouble will come in deciding which three are most worth
pursuing.)
5. Sift through the ideas you’ve harvested. Flesh them out and decide which
three are the best ones. Remember, each must be specific, unique, and targeted. So for each story idea, assign an audience and then a possible publication. The idea is: The more specific you are about this audience, the better
your idea is likely to be. Refine as much as possible. Ask yourself: Is this
idea as specific, as targeted, and as unique as I can make it?
For example:
Story idea: off-season (winter) weekend in Montreal
Audience: affluent travelers who like Europe (France),
perhaps US East Coast dwellers, don’t need to be
French speakers
Publication: International Living or an East Coast
newspaper. Could also check papers for destinations
from which flights to Montreal are cheap — not
necessarily East Coast
6. Now, make a list and fill in three of your own story ideas, audience, and
possible target publications.
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