5 Common Travel Writing Mistakes To Avoid

Every writer including travel writers love to become prominent contributors in no time. Especially when we start off fresh in the travel writing world. There are so many ideas and words flowing trough our heads. We always have a pen and paper or a digital device close by to jot down our thoughts. I must admit, when I first started writing travel content, I was by far the best. I wondered how to write, what to write, what words to use etc. But as time went by, I got into the groove of travel writing. However, there is so much more to learn. I have no doubt that I have made mistakes in the past and my early posts are proof of that. Here are some lessons learned along the way.

Travel Writing Mistakes To Avoid

Travel Writing Literature | Photo By (cc) Jorge Quinteros

Learning from mistakes is one of the effective ways to learn. So I thought of sharing some of the travel writing mistakes, some I have made and others I found by research so you don’t have to make the same mistakes.

1. Everything is exaggerated

It seems this is a common mistake among travel writers but it does get you credit and make what you write impressive. The writer thinks that the reader will always be interested if a place, story, experience or an event is written with the words “best” or “most” or “biggest“. Something that us amateur travel writers don’t understand at the start is that most readers want to read stories that are fascinating and flawed. It does not always have to be the best of this and that.

2. Every story is like an experience

Most travel writers who start off writing makes every story an experience. It is pretty much “how I spent” style and it becomes so repetitive that readers loose interest in reading eventually – or to be more precise, it is simple boring. As newbie travel writers we have to understand and learn to separate details, which were relevant to us from the details which will be relevant to the reader.

3. Use of adjectives

The use of adjectives sometimes come like a flowing river in travel writing. The use of flat adjectives such as good, amazing, incredible and awesome to name a few of the most common ones. Think it this way, what is the difference between a great meal in Mexico and a great meal in New York? It takes time to learn how to develop the right words to convey our experience to a reader.

4. Comparing

Another mistake is comparison between things that may or may not be related or comparable at all. Comparison can be a way to persuade a reader. However, too much of comparison to things often lead to artificial or untrue statements. Instead of comparing, we should allow things to be what they are and master our writing skills to do without too much comparison.

5. Not the truth always

I mean this is in the most sincere way possible, some travel writers lie – not consciously or intentionally, however. A large amount of travel writers try to sell a place or an experience to the readers so they can have the same experience as the writer enjoyed. What is important to know is why we are writing and to what effect, as well as to know the implications of what we write.

So if you want to be that inspiring and unique travel writer…escape…explore…dream…and hit the road to push yourself to become the writer that everyone talks about! Don’t forget to share some of the wisdom in writing you have gained during your writing period.