A taster of what it's like to write for the Lonely Planet

I'm in the middle of a very important assignment...I'm trying to complete my sample brief to see if I have what it takes to become a Lonely Planet author.

How did I get this chance? I applied a few months ago, sort of on a whim and out of curiosity, and a few weeks ago I received an email to say that I'd been shortlisted as "having strong potential" and would I like to complete a sample brief.

So here I am, one week to go until I need to submit that brief and how many words do I have? About twenty.

What has been the most interesting of all about this experience however, are the insights I've had about the realities of writing for a publication like the Lonely Planet.

Unexpected things like...

• The amount of research and leg work that goes into writing even the tiniest of paragraphs

• The strange looks you get when you ask to see a room or try something out because you're reviewing it but you don't want to say who for

• How excited people get when you even mention the Lonely Planet name

• How hard it is to get under the skin of a place even when you think you really know it

• The fact that travel is really a minor part of it; you're a writer who travels not a traveler who writes

I'll let you know how I get on but first I've got to write another 1,980 words.