Got a Travel Article Deadline?

Help! I have a travel article due in two days, and I have no idea how to get it written! Although I've researched the topic, I feel torn between writing about the facts and my experiences, and I feel stuck.

Hi Amy,

Here's an approach I try when I'm in your spot:

I take a four-hour writing session and divide it into four hour-long segments.

I jot down the three or four major points I want to make and write for 45 minutes straight -- no notes, no editing, nothing more than freewriting on the subject. I don't stop to think or organize, just write.

During the last 15 minutes, I go back through the writing (most of it crap and whining, but that's my personal writing style :) ), highlight the things I want to keep, then spend the next 45 minutes writing the whole thing again from scratch using what I highlighted in the first.

Again, I spend the next 15 minutes going through the writing, not judging the style or the grammar or the logical sense of it, but the ideas, the quotes, the phrases, the passages I want to keep.

I freewrite for the next 45 minutes again, then look at this more complete jumble of words and organize the points (usually it's pretty well organized already after two times writing it).

The last hour is spent writing the final essay. Then, I like to put it away overnight and edit it/rework it the next day some more.

It works for me and, if it works for you, I think you'll find you won't have to make a choice between logic and emotion -- you'll uncover and express your opinion, or stand, or whatever point you' re wanting to make.

Good luck -- let me know what happens.

I love to travel and I do it a lot. Writing is a talent that I enjoy. We have 4 children, ages 7, 6, 4, and 3. 2 of them have special needs. T raveling for us can be a task but the rewards for educating our family is beyond number. I have also discovered that many special needs children can access different parks, zoos and other places free. How can I market my skills as a writer along with my experience of traveling with children?

Hi Magdalene,

I think you have the start to a good niche of writing about traveling with children with special needs. Start looking at publications and websites that include travel and asking yourself if a story about this kind of travel would make a good fit. Another good niche would be to make the connection for families whose kids may have special needs that they may not think about -- phobias, easily bored or distracted, or teenagers (!), for example. If you can find a way to offer parents tips from your own experience that would help them deal with their "normal" kids, then you've expanded your audience.

I frequently tell my students to market themselves in the areas of their expertise because editors like to publish "experts". We're all experts in some area, and your experience in traveling with kids with special needs would be a very valuable expertise and one that editors would respond to positively.

Travel writing books, writing classes and a supportive writers group are all good ways to get started with travel writing. If you live in an area with a weekly newspaper or a local organization you're affiliated with that publishes a newsletter, approach them about writing weekly column based on your experiences. You'll get some valuable experience, feedback from editors and readers (and parents) and clips (published articles) that you can use to get higher paying assignments.

Good luck -- let me know how things turn out for you!

Flo says: Don't try this at home