TRAVEL WRITING....

I'm trying to capture some of the moments from our recent holiday.  Writing a travel piece is a new experience for me. Finding the right voice, what exactly I would like to share and make it interesting without sounding like a fourth grade school project...


what i did on my holidays....

(crooked horizon and all)
I've done some research. It seems that the most vital piece of advice about travel writing, apart from 'get your facts correct' is 'avoid cliches.'

No use of the words 'beautiful' or 'amazing.' Two of my pet peeves anyway- because what is 'beautiful' to me can be meaningless to so many.

Okay so no use of 'azure skies' or 'smorgasbord of...' to describe the food. No purple prose. No 'bustling markets' or 'kindred spirits.'


Hmmm.....so I must use description and observations with a smattering of facts. Keep a narrative thread through out the piece. Try to maintain a light, bright, lively and fun tone.  And most importantly make sure that the reader knows where you are, what you are doing and why... in the first paragraph.

So why am I struggling to put down what I would like to say?


Perhaps I have't thought of my central theme? Perhaps I am still resisting the idea that I'm back to the mundane and humdrum. I'm back to housework and paying bills. The norm that for a week or two was put to the side. 


Over the past seven years since I have begun to travel, I have been to places that I had only ever read about. I've stood in front of the Venus de Milo, lit a candle in Notre Dame Cathedral, walked in Monet's garden,  drank spiced wine in Cologne,  been asked to leave a church in Venice because my shoulders were uncovered,  paced in front of Rembrandt's The Night Watch, climbed a giant karri tree in WA, sped around the Bay of Islands in a jet boat, snorkelled in Efate, walked the rim of an active volcano.

And here I am trying to find the words to describe a few moments on a small island.



Perhaps because the sea was turquoise, the sun brilliant in the sky...perhaps it was postcard perfect...

and I'm struggling to say it wasn't?









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