3 Steps to the success
By Sandra Gilch.
When I was starting to think about becoming a journalist, I was convinced their work consists of writing and gathering information while sitting in an office in front of the laptop. Over time, I came to understand that it’s actually more of an outdoor than an indoor job – especially in the field of travel writing, where the work goes far beyond just writing. It begins with choosing the destination and continues with careful preparation. Organizing a trip you plan to write about is one of the most important steps in developing a journalistic piece.
In one of our early classes, travel writer James Taylor introduced us to a helpful concept for organizing a travel story: breaking the process down into three stages – Before, During, and After the trip.
Taking a closer look at this concept, it becomes clear that travel writing is far more than just travelling or writing. It draws on a broad understanding of the journalistic practices, requiring various research methods and communication skills. Each of the three stages involves specific tasks.
1. Before The Trip
First, we need to choose a topic we are passionate about. Then we can start working on this topic – the first stage includes tasks such as background reading as well as the preparation and planning of interviews. I see this as very essential for my FMP which I do about Fado music in Portugal. I aim to connect with artists ahead of time, and I need to develop a deep understanding of Fado’s history through thorough background reading. Given that Fado is a culturally rich and historically significant art form, it can be explored from many different angles, which I will elaborate alongside the process of my research. I even see different sub – stages in this before- the-trip phase – as each step of my research is leading me slowly to an idea of how I want to present my work.
2. During The Trip
The second stage is not just about travelling. We need to remind ourselves to stay observant and take detailed notes. As we learned in class, sensory details are especially important – particularly with a subject like Fado, which speaks to the senses not only acoustically but also emotionally and visually. For successful fieldwork we need to be aware of and be using the right interview techniques and tools to record and save data. While some of this work is prepared in advance, the actual
conversations during interviews require active listening and adaptability to steer them in the right direction.
The concepts suggests that the second stage should be guided by the preparation done beforehand. However, I believe it’s important to stay flexible. During the trip there may happen unexpected things that may make us adjust some of our objectives or perspectives on the topic we previously had.
3. After The Trip
After we travelled to our destination and gathered all information and impressions related to the project topic, the actual work is just about to begin. Selecting and organizing all materials may take a lot of time. However, as the concept taught me, when you do well in the steps before and prepare as well as take notes in a well elaborated way, you are in the best conditions for also doing a well-structured after-the-trip-work.
What I learned from this concept for my FMP is that each of these three stages of work is equally vital in producing a well-rounded, informative result. I am excited to put all these steps into practice. And I am sure after-the-trip is before the next trip!
This article is part of the practical work carried out by the students of the Master’s in Travel Journalism.
