Comments on: Why You Should Trash Your First Page Of Travel Writing

By: Ian MacKenzie

Ian MacKenzie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:53:32 +0000

Thanks for stopping by Terry! Glad you liked the post.

By: TerryDarc

TerryDarc — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:41:10 +0000

Glad I caught your post – my first day on BNT – what luck! You’re right, of course. The counter example is easy to see: you write a post first I did this, then we did that, next some other stuff happened and then something interesting happened and also this happened…yadayada

You can always loop back when the reader’s hooked to some detail that illuminates the story you’re trying to tell, a location, the color of the sky, a mood setting statement and leave the reader to wonder what happened to that situation laced with tension that s/he was talking about, ferkrisakes! Then lead back to what was interesting and so on. Yep, you’re right, my man. Thanks for pointing it out.

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By: This Week's Wandering News « The Daily Transit

This Week's Wandering News « The Daily Transit — Sat, 05 May 2007 01:35:52 +0000

[...] the same vein, Ian Mack at Brave New Traveler, tells aspiring travel-writers why they should throw away the first page of their [...]

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By: ian mackenzie

ian mackenzie — Wed, 02 May 2007 14:07:05 +0000

Hi Akira. I humbly point to my own travel journal from Southeast Asia. With each entry, instead of filling my readers in on every detail, (about the flight, about driving into the city, etc) I opted instead to just jump right in.

Here’s an example from Bankgok:

“Happy New Year!” Karen and I heard behind us as we strolled down the sidewalk in the early hours of Bangkok. There weren’t many cars on the road, though numerous Tuk Tuks (open sided, three wheeled motortrucks) roared constantly by. We turned to face the voice behind us. “Where you from?” The Thai man appeared about forty, wrinkles creased the corners of his eyes from too much smiling.”

And for Koh Phangan:

“The buzz of our motorbike engines settle to a low hum as Karen and I pull up to the fork in the road. Most roads look the same on Koh Phangan, a tiny island off the southern coast of Thailand; crumbling concrete which frequently disappears entirely into puddles of reddish mud.”

Brendan Moran also uses this technique well in his own blog.

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By: Akira

Akira — Wed, 02 May 2007 08:26:05 +0000

Interesting tip and definately worth a try. Could you post a quick example for everybody here, just so the difference is obvious? Thanks!

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By: Wallet Rehab - Ways to save money

Wallet Rehab - Ways to save money — Wed, 02 May 2007 02:43:10 +0000

What a great thought. I had read the same article, but somehow missed the part about starting in the middle. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention. This technique can be brought to so many different types of writing. It’s great!

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