Part 1
Generating Great
Ideas for Articles





         As a writer/photographer, many of your articles can write themselves if you gather unique information that is available free.

Photographers'/Writers' Guidelines
 
 
        Obtain and study photographers’/writers' guidelines provided by publications that interest you. Read the publication itself, ideally several copies! Writers' guidelines don't just tell you how long articles should be and what format to use when making submissions. They often also provide vital clues as to what subjects are likely to be of interest to the publication. Using a search engine, you can find the guidelines of most publications by typing in the name of the publication and the word “submissions.”

Think Like Your Reader
         Put yourself in the place of your reader and try to imagine what destinations and activities would appeal most. If you were thinking up article ideas to propose to a lifestyles magazine catering for fairly well-to-do over-50s, stories involving backpacking travel and basic hostels are probably not going to be the most relevant. Many over-50s are highly fit and active but they more often appreciate their travel comforts and will require a certain degree of luxury on trips. Four and five star hotels would generally be more appropriate than hostel accommodation for them.

Your Next Trip
         Consider every trip or travel experience you make as a potential subject of your articles for publication. Even if you're on a private holiday rather than a press trip, be prepared to collect the facts you need to enable you to write up the trip in due course should you wish to. You never know when you might want to write up a travel experience.

         Record how you got to your destination, details of where you stayed and your impressions of the hotels. What were their good points? What were they not so good at? Was there anything uniquely good or uniquely bad about them? Distinctive features and real life experiences will provide you with the detail you need to transform your writing from mere collections of facts into vibrant articles people will find both informative and fascinating to read.

         Be disciplined. You might only be going away for a day or maybe a long weekend, but the facts
you can collect about your destination in that time could easily be more than enough for several articles.

Talk To The Locals
         Make it a point to talk to local people, whether you're on a press trip or a private vacation. If you're on a press trip, a local tourism official will generally provide you with most of the information you need. However, be prepared to probe beyond any prepared scripts they might be using. Officials may not always know or have time to describe everything you need to find out, and might miss out potentially interesting information. Tourism officials don't have a monopoly on useful and interesting information. Strike up casual conversations with shopkeepers, barmen, hotel owners, waiters and waitresses whenever you travel. Talking to taxi drivers is a must. You never know when you might pick up a real nugget of information, which will spark life into an article.

         Furthermore, if you're on a group press trip, bear in mind that all the other writers on the trip will have access to the same information as you (as set out in the press pack and provided by the tourism officials). To make your article unique, and therefore more saleable, find out facts, which are not commonly known to the other photographers and writers on your trip. Ask your own questions of the tourism representatives and you'll greatly increase your chances of uncovering information gems.

John Longford is a freelance travel writer and has produced a course on how to break into the profession: www.FreelanceTravelWriter.com .


           


           

Tommy Thompson

Kerry Kolb

Jon Saban

Jake Nelson