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As I hinted at a couple weeks ago, my May interview subject at the RolfPotts.com Writers page is the award-winning editor of the San Francisco Chronicle travel section, John Flinn. Over the course of his career, Flinn has journeyed on assignment to more than 20 countries, including Bhutan, Cuba, the Cook Islands and Croatia, and written more than 400 travel articles. Prior to his job at the Chronicle, Flinn was a feature writer for the San Francisco Examiner, where he was paid to, among other things, fly with the Blue Angels, climb El Capitan, wrestle a bear and go on a date with Miss America.
Recently, I blogged about Flinn’s tips for travelers; in our Q&A, his advice for writers takes a different tack. “It’s not about the traveling,” he says, “it’s about the writing.”
Editors are looking for writers who dabble in travel rather than travelers who dabble in writing. Plop Pico Iyer down at a Stuckey’s on the Jersey Turnpike and I guarantee he’ll come back with a great story. On the other hand, a dozen men have walked on the moon and not one has written anything worth reading about it. Also, strive to be a writer, not a travel writer. All the authors I cite above have extensive experience doing other kinds of writing, and that’s what makes them so good.
As an editor, Flinn says he look for the following elements in a travel story:
Full Flinn interview online here.
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:53 pm
I’m glad to see the advice about writing on topics other than travel.
When I loudly declared that my next job was “freelance travel writer” I had only a week to savor the words before I got my first paid gig writing about….NHRA drag racing.
It was a terrific experience, and suddenly I became a travel writer/sportswriter/will write for food writer. It’s mo’ betta this way….
Thanks, Sheila