Upcoming course in Sydney

Choose your own adventure

It’s called ‘travel memoir’, although you may know it as ‘armchair travel’ or more recently ‘vicarious travel’. And that’s it in a nutshell – allowing your readers to live through your exploits. It’s a genre which has grown as fast as the world has shrunk, with thousands of titles catering to all tastes – Tuscany to Tucson, Bali to Mali, way-out wacky to down-right dramatic. And incredibly, just like a train in India, there’s always room for more!

From a publishing point of view, the travel memoir segment has a lot going for it. Publishers and readers alike love this genre – its variety, its sense of adventure and its glimpse into different worlds. Bestsellers are just that, selling millions of copies. And your story could be next!

Best-selling storytelling

Before you grab your surfboard and head for the Sahara, it’s worthwhile learning the art of storytelling. Because unlike travel journalism, literary travel writing is about narrative techniques – more closely related to fiction than a Sunday magazine travel piece.

So whether you consider yourself a travelling writer or a writing traveller, it’s essential you’re able to tell a good story.

We’re talking about crafting a compelling story with credible characters, believable dialogue, atmosphere, tension and revelation. It may be real life, but that doesn’t give you permission to be dull! Your travel blog or book needs to engage readers and invoke a sense of ‘being there’. Remember, the destination is merely the backdrop for YOUR story and experiences.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Structuring your travel memoir to ensure it’s unique from
  the very first page
• Keeping your travel blog fresh and exciting – even when
  you’re not travelling
• Techniques on writing your travel journal without clichés and
  describing place with new eyes
• Ways to transform your dog-eared diaries into a must-read manuscript
• Preparing for a trip and how to shape the writing on your return
• Using social media and twitter to raise your profile as you write
• The big sell – writing a compelling book proposal to get your
  work published
• and much more!

Have course, will travel

This Travel Memoir course is suited to both first-time and seasoned writers. Packed full of tips, examples and exercises, you’ll be encouraged to leave the armchair behind and write your own travel narrative. If you’ve already completed our Introduction to Travel Writing (2-hour seminar) or the 5-week Travel Writing course, this one is the perfect next step; taking you from articles to something longer – a bestselling travel memoir, private journal or blog of your adventures.

Your journey doesn’t need to be some exotic speck on a map – in fact, it could be in the same postcode. Quality travel storytelling is all about your experiences, not how many miles it took you to have them. So, grab your unicycle and let’s begin sharing your stories of the world with the world!