Saturday, April 12, 2008

Write the PERFECT Travelogue: This is how...

It is essential to plan and make up your mind before writing the travelogue. The points to be considered are –

a. Travel Notes: Take down notes as you travel about the small details and nitty-gritty's of the places you visited. Eg: - Note down the height of the hill if you've visited one; note down the brief history, timings and fees a museum that you've visited, it's a tall task to recall such details when you sit down to write a travelogue.

b. Outline of places visited: Make a brief outline of places visited and in what order.

c. Purpose and how personal: Be clear what purpose the travelogue is for and subsequently decide how personal you want the travelogue to be. Eg: - say the travelogue is for a magazine. In such a case it does not make sense to include personal information like what souvenirs you bought for whom. It is more apt to mention that you shopped at so-and-so place and some of the things worth shopping for.

Follwing are the stages while writing the travelogue –

a. Introduction: A quote, photograph, postcard or a catchy line should be used to introduce the travelogue. It is this that sets the tone for the travelogue and can win the reader over or discourage them.
Eg: - 'it was a bright day and we decided to hit the beach' – this is passé and boring. 'The sun inspired the beach-bum in us and we hit the beach' – is more trendy and unique.

b. Body: Ideally the travelogue should be in paragraphs, with each new place/ experience talked about in a different paragraph. Keep the paras crisp and ensure that one para flows into the other.
Eg: - Ending a para with 'Our flight landed in Mumbai bang on time and being grounded and walking, rather than flying felt nice. Mumbai is a busy city…..which I discovered as my cab crawled out of the airport.' And beginning the next para with 'Whether it's the taxiwallas, buswallas or pedestrians, everyone is always a whirr of urgency around each of them.'

c. Close: Traditionally travelogues and ended with a promise to visit again, lessons learnt during the travel, emotions felt or the clichéd 'though the travel was fun, there's no place like home.' But it's best to do something different, maybe end with:

* praise for the residents of the area or city that you visited.
Eg: - Despite the modest means, the hospitality of Kashmiris shines through and they're not the one's to let the terrorism break them.??

* A one-liner.
Eg: - Whether you hate Mumbai crowds, or love them, one thing's certain, you just cannot ignore them!

* Refer to something that happened during the journey.
Eg: - I felt free-like the birds that the aviary authorities let free to which we were a proud spectator- when I glided down the hill-side of the marvelous Nashik(place you visited).

* Humorous line.
Nothing works like Humor, so use it to your advantage! J

4 comments:

Vikash said...

You write like professional column writers. :)

Abhilasha said...

Good help.. Thanks.. :)

Unknown said...

thanks for the tips

Unknown said...

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE TIPS

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