Comments on: Should Travel Writers Blog?

By: AccountingElf

AccountingElf — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:35:14 +0000

I think that everyone needs to turn their computer off at some point to get some work done, but I don't think that there's anything specifically *bad* about travel writers blogging. People turn to the internet first, so you have to offer them something to get your name out there. I'm not going to buy a book because I search for "touring italy" and your website tells me nothing except "Buy this book." I think because of the internet, you now have to offer a sample of your writing for free, because so much writing IS free, and then convince the people that the book has something different and special in it. (For example, ricksteves.com has tons of useful travel articles, but if I want to read all the self-guided walking tours he has for a country, I have to buy the book.)

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By: David_Miller

David_Miller — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:02:19 +0000

my writing flows a hundred times better when I'm away from all electrical outlets. . .

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By: Kim@Galavanting

Kim@Galavanting — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:07:49 +0000

I agree all those things can be totally distracting. Setting aside time each day or week to totally focus on writing is really important. Or when I'm traveling abroad I usually only do a little blogging and tweeting, and pretty much ignore everything else to focus on the experience (how else could I report on it, if I didn't truly experience it??). But the thought of writers ignoring the internet entirely reminds me of a Western Union internal memo from 1876: "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Famous last words.

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By: Turner

Turner — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:27:50 +0000

I think mine definitely does. As I opened this in a new window I was already building my profile for Trazzler, watching my site traffic for KPIJ, checking out the latest on Comedy Central, and clicking link after link I found to be interesting… I think I was originally just looking for a list of worldwide hot springs.

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By: ianmack

ianmack — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:24:45 +0000

Just found this great post from Seth Godin on the same topic. "The opportunity, then, is to organize and network and identify and reward that activity when it happens online. Not because the site is owned by a paper or because the founder has connections to the old media. No, because they're doing work that matters." ” target=”_blank”>http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/y...

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By: tom

tom — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:50:04 +0000

Very smart article Eva. I have been lamenting this too. I'm going to skip the blogging/tweetering/whatever's-invented-next while traveling next year for the sake of actually writing something with more substance and polish.

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By: geotraveler

geotraveler — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:27:40 +0000

Totally feel you on this one Eva. One can easily spend hours hopping across blogs, Facebook, iGoogle RSS feeds, twitter, etc before getting any actual work done. Plus, one can easily begin to lose their true writing voice because it becomes peppered with ideas and other styles that subconsciously infiltrate their writing. Social media is invaluable in so many regards, but once in a while, slowly backing away from the computer is required to keep one's sanity in check.

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