How To Write

TRAVEL WRITING:   Like movies, narrative essays are built out of scenes. Here's how.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Writing spontaneously & without judgment can strengthen creativity and destroy writers block.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   It’s no secret, Terminator Salvation and Transformers 2 are flimsy, mind-numbing movies. So what can be learned from their storytelling failures?  More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

LIFE:   People often ask me how to become a writer, and over the years it occurs to me the answer is far simpler than most expect. One simple secret that will turn you instantly into the writer you want to be.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   From concept to pitch to publication, maximizing readership is about reaching out personally through the internet.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   These two queries show all you have to do to get an editor's attention.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Since quitting my 9-to-5 job as the assistant director of a mental health agency in 2004 and becoming a full-time traveler and writer, many people have remarked that they envy my lifestyle. What they don’t recognize is that they can create the same kind of life for themselves by following a relatively simple set of steps, which I’ll share with you here.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Here's how you can avoid sounding like your travel writing came up through the marketing dept at your local ad agency.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   A peek inside a Matador editor’s inbox…and what you can learn from it.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   How Hemingway's Iceberg model of a good story will improve your travel writing.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   The way you write begins with the way that you look at the world, at people.  More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   The biggest problem writers face when trying to get published is getting emotional about the whole process, being reactive instead of proactive.   More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Suggestions for recreating dialogue that ocurred in more than one language.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   As a writer I'm sometimes wondering what editors are thinking. As an editor, I'm often wondering what writers are thinking. Here are a few thoughts on writing and the idea of 'self-awareness'.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   These three common marketing 'constructions' completely kill your storytelling authenticity.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   These words and phrases have been used too much in travel writing. They're tired. Let them rest. Please.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   How can you write about your amazing adventures without sounding like a showoff?  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   You don't mistake travel writing for punk rock. Most of it just isn’t loud or raw enough. But not all.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   How Hemingway's Iceberg model of a good story will improve your travel writing.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   The English language is full of traps for writers--here are some to avoid in your professional writing.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Notable writers on plot structure, plot development, and the plot of our lives.  More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   How to deepen your ability to find and tell stories by strengthening your skills in observing the interactions between people. 3 exercises.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   "Everyone knew my desire to write, not because I was talking about it all of the time, but because I was doing it. "  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   After 8 months of work, Matador launches its first educational component, a training course for travel writers at all levels of their careers.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Don't send another mass email until you've read this.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Matador editors offer some advice to an aspiring travel writer who asks: How do you get noticed and advance in this profession?  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   There is something about a handwritten letter that cannot be touched for all of our technical prowess. The tactile sensation of the paper. The swirl of the script. Nothing will ever replace it.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   An anecdote works best when it returns the reader to the story with a new sense of understanding or awareness of the characters.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   How can you write about your amazing adventures without sounding like a showoff?  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Material Transparency is an underpinning or ethic of a writer's personal brand.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Travel writing tends to get pigeonholed. Here are sites and publications that promote the kind of writing--call/categorize it what you want--we like to read at Matador.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   How do you decide?  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   "I realized the value of that travel journal I was keeping – jottings that, although I didn't know it at the time, were going to find their way pretty much directly into the final, published version of the book."  More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Writing spontaneously & without judgment can strengthen creativity and destroy writers block.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Here are three websites so full of writing prompts, collaborations, games and exercises you have no choice but to write.   More »

SPIRIT:   ...  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Quotes can add dynamic elements to your story, or kill it almost instantly.  More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   Organizing beforehand is everything. Learn how.   More »

TRAVEL WRITING:   "I went to Chile knowing that this was the moment I would really have to start writing a book, which was a rotten feeling."  More »