(continued)
Before you start out on a trip like this, you give some thought to the kind of stories you want to bring back with you. You'd like to have a story or two about lions, and a few about the interesting people you met on the way. Maybe one about haggling with a guy selling baskets or jewelry: can you believe I bought this for an old t-shirt and a couple of ballpoint pens? These are the souvenirs we think we want. And yet, often the detours--the car troubles, the wrong directions, the town you had to stop in when it got too dark to keep driving--provide the best stories. Sure, I've got the jewelry and the cloth paintings from the guys in the market, and I treasure them. But I still regret the fact that I didn't think to take one of Mario's business cards.
Wheee! Katie, that's a superb travel piece; it hits on all chords (future tip; when driving a Toyota four-wheel anywhere iffy, it helps to have a former mechanic in the Israeli army along. Trust me on this.)
Where are you submitting it? Is this for Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast, one of the travel mags?
Heh. Good tip, Deb.
I'm not submitting it anywhere at the moment--I'm using it as a writing sample for a job I'm applying to. I would like to look into publishing some travel pieces, though. I need to look up some travel magazines and see what their requirements are.
edit:
forgot to say, thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
erika, backsent. I love the changes you made to the story. I wish you all the best getting it published. It is a truly wonderful piece.
Kate, good one!
Thanks, sj, glad to hear my experiment paid off.
Kate, I think Travel & Leisure does the nice one-page pieces an travel experiences. I love that damned magazine, but I can't read it at the moment, due to heart-breakage courtesy of lack of funds to travel right now, damn it.
Deb, I'll check out Travel & Leisure. Thanks!
Veeeeeery late, but anyway: Kate, I loved reading it - especially the paragraph in the separate post (and I agreed with it completely).
[x-posted with my own LJ]
So, I have an idea.
A lot of you know about the weekly fandom drabble challenges that are on LiveJournal (like FarscapeFriday, Open_On_Sunday [for Buffyverse], etc.); in fact, a lot of you participate.
Would anyone be interested in a weekly non-fandom drabble challenge? I can set up an LJ community for it. And people who don't have LJ accounts -- you can still post as "guest," or "anonymous."
I'm thinking of writing prompts like: "Two people are sitting opposite each other at a table. Drabble it. Anything goes."
Anyone interested?
That sounds interesting, Teppy. I'd sign on.