This started off as a lens to link to really good travel lenses, with a couple of pieces about travel writing thrown in. I was pissed off with searching for good lenses and getting nothing more than one sentence about a place followed by tonnes of things to sell, and figured other people must be too.
Now it's become a lens on how to write about travel, with a few links to good lenses thrown in.
Still, I've had a couple of people write to me asking me to include them in the lens links. Could you please make sure your lens is not purely commercial, and actually has something worth looking at/reading before doing so? Putting links in to rubbish lenses would defeat the purpose of the exercise.
The most important thing a lens writer can know
An essential step for getting read
Think about how you use the internet or read a newspaper. You breeze along until a headline or title catches you interest. Then you read the first paragraph or glance at the sub-title, and if it lives up to its promise you read on.
Just imagine how many articles are out there. Billions! Your article has to stand out from the beginning.
Think about how you can improve your current titles. Recently I went out for dinner at The Marriot. I thought "Dinner at the Marriot" sounded incredibly boring. Luckily, the entertainment included dancing so I wrote: "A night with a whirling dervish". If you're like me, a whirling dervish sounds much more exotic than dinner in a hotel.
Titles relevant to your audience also help. For example, if I saw "ten ways to improve your travel blog" I would read it like a shot. It might not be the most interesting title, but it is well targeted. It's also why I chose "How to get your post read" fot his post. On the other hand, unrealistic promises turn me right off. I would assume "How to make a squidzillion dollars from your lens with thirty seconds work a year" was a blatant lie and never give it a second thought.
Also compare:
"Fishing in Qatar" with "My battle with a deep sea monster"
"Ramadan" to "Fasting in the desert"
"Tourism in Qatar" to "Fancy a holiday in Qatar, anyone?"
Best travel lenses
- Spain in depth
- Loads of information on Spain with a superb map. Also has links to other sub-lenses on Spain and its provinces.
- The Creative Suitcase
- Keep on going past the links to get to some good content.
- Qatar Guide
- Umm, this is mine. Sorry for blatent self publicity, but it is more than just a list of links. Honest!
- The Foodies Guide To Eating Round The World
- An often overlooked part of travelling. (I've had snake and dried frog skin in Thailand, chicken's feet soup in Indonesia and sea weed in my home town but have so far managed to avoid the local Arab delicacies here. Nuff said!)
- City By The Bay: San Francisco
- Currently rated a 5. Updated monthly.
- Tibet, Nepal and South Asia
- This lens is worth visiting just to see the old Nepalese posters.
Writing good content
Tips
Common advice
- Use headings.
- Use lists.
- Use links in your writing.
I use all three of these techniques - but not in every article. I like to vary the style of my writing.
Some things I like to do are:
- start in the most interesting part of a story and then go back to the beginning when I have the readers attention. This keeps them interested.
I'll give an example of this in my next post.
- make it personal: talk about my story or people's stories rather than abstract concepts. This technique helped me to get my first article published.
- on the same topic: address the reader. Talk to them. Think of this yourself. You like to be spoken to, not ignored, don't you?
- vary my writing. Mixing short sentences with very long ones can be an interesting way of retaining the readers attention.
Writing is my hobby not my profession. I'm sure many other people have good tips. If you do - please share them with me!
Writing brilliant introductions
How to write an introduction that will grab your reader's attention
Which of the two introductions do you prefer?
1. Driving in Doha is very dangerous. There are many accidents every day.
2. "Watch out," I screamed as a white land cruiser shot out from the exit behind us, and overtook us on the inside of the roundabout. I was about to have my first Qatar driving accident.
The first one is a bland and boring statement of fact. The second one starts in the middle of the most interesting part of the story. We want to read on - we want to know what happens next. But we don't tell the reader straight way. Instead, we leave it dangling till the end of the article. Making use of the urge to find out what happens next is one of the oldest tricks in the book (pun intended!)
(Do you want to read the rest of my article on driving in Qatar? If yes, click on Driving - Qatar style. If not - well, I've obviously been talking a load of bollocks!)
Great Stuff on Amazon
How to Make a Living As a Travel Writer
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
The Travel Writer's Handbook 5th Ed: How to Write and Sell Your Own Travel Experiences
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
Writing About Travel: How to Research, Write and Sell Travel Guides and Articles
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
Sometimes You Just Have to Stand Naked: A Guide to Interesting Writing
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
What makes a good travel lens?
I don't like lenses that are blatant adverts. I like them disguised a little. I am happy for there to be advertising, but they need to give something in return - amuse me, offer me a tool or give me information.
I like content. Come on, aren't you bored of two line introductions followed by some links and an Amazon shop?
Talking of content, make the writing good. Personalize it - talk to your reader, use the pronouns you and we, ask your reader questions. Sure, make a picture with words - but don't overdo it, leave something to the imagination. Give the reader a reason to read on.
I don't like link farms, but I do like blogs which choose their links carefully and give good reasons to visit those links. If there aren't those reasons - well, why not just use a google search to find out what you want?
Lenses that point to blogs/websites are fine, but why not show your reader what you can do? After all, if your lense is good, then there is a chance your blog/website will be too i.e. worth visiting.
Pictures are great, but I'm not really interested in seeing someone I have never met before. I'm not interested in pavements either. Show me something that I can't see out of my bedroom window. If you take a hundred photos I guarantee that you'll have one or two which are really good. Plus you have free and easy to use photo software like Picasso that can dramatically improve your pictures.
Lenses that include a link to my own blog/lense. Now, that makes for a really good lense...
Anyone out there?
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Silver_Lotus
5 start lens! I like your tips for making good travel lenses. And thank you for mentioning my Tibet, Nepal and South Asia lens. Posted June 16, 2008 |
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MexicoLarry
Hi! I just made a new lens, and i'd be interested to know what you think of it. It is promotional (of a specific hotel and beach resort) but i'm trying to do it in a way that is valuable - encouraging people to really think about the best way to relax on vacation. I'm aiming to do some more lenses on Mazatlan, Mexico in general as well. Anyway, the link is Escaping to Paradise - El Rancho Mazatlan Posted June 12, 2008 |
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kimmckay
Nice info. Came in handy when building my lens on campervan travel around Australia. Posted March 07, 2008 |
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EditorDave
Hey there... I've come back to visit. You *Still* have a nice lens--and it's getting better! I've fixed up some of my travel lenses: Narita, Guam, New Mexico, Hawaii, Palau, Niseko, Montana, and Colorado ... I'm still learning how to make 'em better... but with your advice, I think they are starting to get a little more attention. Thanks again so much for your kind suggestions! Posted February 28, 2008 |
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MattyC
Thanks for this it is great info and entertaining. I have just started lensing and am a rank amateur, so this will be very valuable Posted February 19, 2008 |
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capybara
Hi I am new to this and have just started a travel lens so thought i would join your group. Posted November 06, 2007 |
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km352
Thanks, I'm building some travel-related lenses so your insight will be helpful. Posted November 01, 2007 |
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EditorDave
Thanks for such a helpful lens. You've made me "rethink" mine to make them more *helpful* with *valuable* information. Best regards, http://www.squidoo.com/map_reading Posted October 23, 2007 |
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kathysart
~~*~~ Posted July 20, 2007 |
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Klr_queen
Ah, reading this, it sounds like I should be working on my lens a lot more :D Very useful information! Posted June 27, 2007 |
Indonesia
I lived in East Java, Indonesia for years, and now whenever I hear an Indonesian voice I feel like I am hearing one of my own country people. I often drag my wife towards the voice and start up a conversation. (Actually, I don't do this when I hear someone from my country). Being Indonesian, they are always happy to talk to a total stranger!The picture at the start of this module shows a superb sulphur lake at the top of a volcano in Ijien, East Java. It's hard to get to, transport wise, but easy to climb up. You share the climb with wiry little men with poles over their back and big fat cigarettes in their mouths, who mine the sulphur at the top of the mountain. When their baskets are full they sling them over their backs and trot down the mountain. I tried to lift one of these poles - I couldn't even get it off the ground.
More great lenses
- Take a vacation without leaving home
- Well written and amusing.
- Cardiff, South Wales
- Tons of information about Cardiff and loads of pictures. Well done, Butt!
- Torquay South Devon The English Riviera
- Tons of information about Torquay, a must if you are planning to visit Devon.
- Chincoteague Island
- Contains a description of the island and a map.
Dune Bashing: Qatar's national sport
My other lenses
- From the fountain of youth...
- Wheelchair history - find out what the pyramids of Egypt, disabled ancient Greek children, the fountain of youth in China and an injured mining engineer in the USA have in common...
- Wheelchairs UK
- A new E-shop for power chair users by the owners of Gower Mobility.
- The Disabled Shop
- Featured products, tips and advice from the UK's Disabled Shop.
- Doha Guide
- A short guide to Doha, capital of Qatar, with links to more detailed information.
- Qatar Guide
- A longer lens, with photos, videos and plenty of information on Qatar. It also links to my website, Qatar Visitor, with over 400 pages of articles and information on Qatar, and to my Qatar blog, which has over three hundred posts on Qatar.
- Web-page promotion
- How to promote a new web page on your website.
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