CHAPTER NINE A Fool-Proof Way to Come Up with Story …— William Saroyan P eople ask me all the...

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“The most solid advice... for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

— William Saroyan

People ask me all the time how I find so many things to write about. It’s true. I seem always to be working on one project

or another — and usually I’m working on several different sto-ries at once. At one point recently, for example, I was writing about a new spa in Belize, an emerging retirement destination in Mexico’s Yucatan, real-estate deals in Nicaragua, and a little-known diving destination in the Caribbean.

The truth is I come by my ideas in all sorts of places. Some “land in my lap,” so to speak, on press releases. Others occur to me while I’m reading, working on other projects, talking with friends and contacts, listening to the radio, or watching TV.

CHAPTER NINEA Fool-Proof Way to Come Up

with Story Ideas Every Time

The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program120

I, like other travel writers, find ideas almost everywhere. The key, you’ll learn, is in recognizing the core of a unique idea... fleshing it out so it’s worthy of a full-length story... and then following through by putting pen to paper (or hands to keyboard) to really write it.

Use Press Releases as SpringboardsOne easy place to find article ideas is through press releases. Hotels, tour companies, tourist boards, manufacturers of travel products, travel-book pub-lishers, and other firms and organizations send out press releases regularly to editors of publications and to freelance writers in hopes of attracting some publicity.

I’ve devoted an upcoming chapter in this program to the best ways for you to get your name on press-release lists, so I won’t go into that here.

Instead, let’s examine, for a moment, a couple of press releases I’ve received to give you an idea of how you can take a press-release “blurb” and turn it into a full-blown article idea.

Example 1 — Press Release from the Tourism Authority of ThailandTitled “Upcoming Events,” this 11-page press release gives a calendar with dates and short descriptions of festivals and special events scheduled for the coming months. I’ve excerpted a few entries here:

Oct 7-8 Buffalo Races in Chonburi (Thailand’s East Coast) The water buffalo remains the Thai farmer’s best friend and takes his honored place among his human confederates in an annual festival that allows both man and beast to have some fun away from the rigors of plowing. In addition to the buffalo races, there are contests that pit animal against man, a beauty pageant, and food fests that appeal to every palate.


You should think of press releases as springboards. In my experience, it’s rare that a writer picks up a story idea just as it’s written in a press release. Instead, look in press releases for the cores of ideas... for something you can expand upon. Press releases are, in my view, just a place to get the juices flowing.

Consider this event schedule from Thailand, for instance. I can think of two ideas offhand that could well make saleable articles if you targeted the right publications and arranged your travel so that you could be in Thailand to see some of these events:

1. A story about off-the-wall festivals in Thailand — to include not just the Buffalo races but several other events as well. The focus could be time-sen-sitive. You could write about why fall is the best time to travel to Thailand because it’s then that you can take in the most exotic of festivals. Then you could profile three to five of them.

2. Traveling to Thailand in November or December might be the ideal time to do a photo-essay that would go along with a piece about exploring rural Thailand. You could visit the towns mentioned in the press-release blurb about sunflowers and other, nearby communities to write about Thailand’s extraordinary off-the-beaten-track communities where the drama of the landscape draws you in and the warm welcome you receive makes it diffi-cult to leave.

Nov 10-11 Bang Sai Loi Krathong (Central Thailand) Bangsai Royal Arts & Crafts Center, Ayutthaya Held during the full moon in November, this event features the launching of traditional krathongs (floral floats). Demonstrations and exhibitions of local handicrafts make this a must-see.

Nov-Dec Sunflower Blooming Season in Mae Hong Son (Northern Thailand) The hills and valleys of Mae Hong Son turn a bright golden when the sunflowers bloom. The countryside is at its most photogenic at Doi Mae U-kor in Amphoe Khun Yuam.


Example 2 — Press Release from Alice Marshall Public RelationsFrom this public relations firm in New York, I received a press release about new services and facilities open at two luxury hotels in the Caribbean. The text reads:

“Only an hour’s flight from Miami, Parrot Cay, a 56-room private island resort, has a variety of new things to heighten guests’ experiences. The list includes the completion of Shambhala (a 6,000-square-foot holistic retreat overlooking the sea), adding private pools and sun decks to all the beach houses, extending restaurant hours (now two restaurants serve dinner every day), appointing Amanda Gale as the new Executive Chef, adding a special guest services center, and increasing staff—now three persons per room. Additionally, three new single beach cottages and one three-bedroom villa are scheduled to open in December. Fall rates begin at $520 and include airport transfers, breakfast, dinner, non-motorized water sports, mountain bikes, and the use of tennis and fitness facilities. Reservations can be made by calling (649) 946 7789 or toll-free within the U.S. (877) 754 0726.

“A few islands away on St. Barts, with its French-infused restaurants, shopping, and night life, lies Hotel Guanahani, the island’s largest resort. This year, Guanahani completed extensive renovations on both of its restaurants, L’Indigo and Bartolomeo. The hotel has re-paved all beach paths and also added new water sport facilities. The tropical gardens surrounding the resort’s Creole-style villas now flourish more than ever with new irrigation systems. Fall rates begin at $470 and include breakfast, non-motorized water sports, use of tennis and fitness facilities, and tax and service. Reservations may be made by calling the hotel directly on (590) 27 66 60 or through The Leading Hotels of the World (800) 223 6800.”

Success Clue

From freelancer Rose Burke in Paris

When Using Press Releases:

• DO contact the PR official • DO add your own knowledge• DO verify the information • DO rewrite the release in your own style• DO add extra research • DON’T pass off a release as a story


Now, where might you go with this information? Can you think of an idea or two for a story? Here’s what I’ve come up with:

You could do a standard “hotel review” piece by visiting one of these facilities and then writing up a profile for publication. Many magazines — from Travel + Leisure to National Geographic Traveler — publish hotel profiles regularly.

But can you think of another, more interesting way to use this information?

I’m struck by the fact that the first hotel, Parrot Cay, sits on its own island. You might find a buyer for a story about the person who started and runs this hotel. Perhaps Islands magazine or Caribbean Travel & Life would be inter-ested in a profile about this person with vision and gumption who bought a deserted island, transformed it into a luxury paradise, and is making a go of it.

With all the renovations that seem to have been recently completed at the Hotel Guanahani, I’m curious about what prompted them. Is there suddenly new hotel competition on the island? Would it be worth traveling there to visit a handful of hotels to do a round-up piece about the best places to stay? Per-haps the renovations were made in response to hurricane damage. Your story might be about how this hotel — and maybe others, too — are recovering and what they’re doing to attract new business.

You get the idea... you take the information from a press release and create something more substantive from it. In the last paragraph, I made some con-jectures about why that hotel had made so many renovations. Now, I don’t know, in fact, why. But those are the kinds of questions I would ask of the public-relations contact listed on the press release. And once I had some more information, I’d be better able to define my story idea.

Read, Read, and Then Read Some MoreMore often than not, I find my story ideas not on press releases, but elsewhere. I read extensively... so should you. And not just travel-related information, either.

If you’d like to write about international destinations, then keep tabs on the politics in countries around the world so you know what’s going on there. If


you plan to write about things around where you live — whether it’s a B&B in the next town over, the farmer’s mar-ket that’s worth a visit, or the county fair — then make sure you keep tabs on your local events.

Read the newspaper, grab that free po-etry publication at the coffee shop and study the ads... you never know where you’ll notice something that will catch your eye and give you an idea for a story.

Read newspapers, books, magazines, Internet articles, cereal boxes...every-thing you can get your hands on. Something you come across may trigger an idea for a related story. You have to start thinking about the many different ways you can make information accessible to different audiences. Remember, every different audience you can think of to write to equals a new writing op-portunity — because that new audience demands a new story angle.

For example, one year an Associated Press writer did a news story about Baltimore’s open-air film festival, held each summer in that city’s Little Italy neighborhood. The AARP magazine followed up with a profile on the elderly gentleman from whose window the movies are projected. The first story trig-gered the second.

Listen to the Radio... Eavesdrop on Conversations...Pay Attention to the Local HullabalooListen to the radio news, to talk shows... even to conversations around you. What are people talking about, preoccupied with, angry over? Is there an angle you haven’t heard discussed? You might think about how a citywide issue relates to your smaller neighborhood or how other communities might have resolved whatever issue is preoccupying yours.

For example, a controversial issue where a friend of mine lives in Baltimore is whether or not to let bars within a designated 40-block radius stay open past the 2:00 a.m. close time and shut their doors, instead, at 4:00 a.m. Now, this

Read newspapers, books, magazines, Internet articles,

cereal boxes...everything you can get your hands on. Something you come across

may trigger an idea for a related story.


might at first glance appear to have had nothing to do with travel writing. But it has me thinking.

I wonder if the local Baltimore paper might be interested in a travel/entertain-ment story about the bars and clubs in nearby Washington, DC that already stay open until 4:00 a.m. It would be a timely piece, and I could write about where they are, how each crowd “hangs out” in each place. And if the Balti-more paper isn’t interested, perhaps The Washingtonian magazine would be... or I could try a monthly music magazine that profiles destinations. (I imagine there is one.)

You see, by simply staying on top of local events, by listening to what people are talking about, I’ve been able to come up with a story idea that just might sell. You can do the same thing.

Do Not Be Shy... Strike Up That Conversation Talk to anyone and everyone. You never know when a simple conversation will trigger a story idea. For example, I was in France in a chocolate shop in this tiny town, talking with the owner. I asked how business had been. And he

Insider Tip:What Makes a Great Article for International Living?No non-descriptive, run-of-the-mill articles. That’s not to say we won’t accept articles on gastronomy in Paris, or sight-seeing in Rome. But you’ll have to work harder to get the inside track, to find the facts that no one else has. If you can find it in the weekend section of your average newspaper, send it to them instead. Make recommendations in your article. We want your opinion. Tell our readers how to do things, how to catch a cab, order a meal, buy a souvenir, start a business, buy real estate, find a new place, a hidden gem. This is the age of the Internet. But before you get mired in the online research, remember, our readers can Google too. Original tips and advice will stand out and put your article on the top of the pile.

Conor William O’Brien Managing Editor, International Living


told me that he put a website up that had recently boosted his business by 50 percent.

It wasn’t that a sudden preponderance of French people ordered candy online but instead, having seen his site, visitors from around the country stopped by when they were in the area touring. Are there stories there?

You bet: a profile of this gentleman for France magazine, maybe, or even a piece on the delicacies of France. This guy makes chocolates. In the next town over, the specialty is macaroons. I could focus a travel story on this region of France around each town’s special treats. Perhaps I could sell it to a food magazine that publishes travel articles (as many of them do) or even to my local paper’s travel section. As it turns out, this is a little-visited region of the country and this somewhat oddball focus might well be of interest to an editor looking for a new way to cover a country that writers write about all the time.

Keep Your Eyes PeeledWatch what’s going on around you. When you’re on the road to do research, take notes about what you see in a new place and about your impressions. Notice details like colors and temperature, the time it takes to get from one place to the next, the way locals react to tourists and to you. You’ll find these bits of information can not only trigger article ideas but also come in very handy when you’re actually writing.

For example, I’ve been traveling in Mexico recently, and I’ve been astounded by the wonderful, affordable shopping in many of the markets. I’m also in the midst of buying things for a new home... and so I’ve had my eyes peeled wher-ever I go. And it occurs to me that I might put together an article about the best places in Mexico to buy home furnishings.

In Oaxaca, Tlaquepaque, and Guadalajara, for ex-ample, you can find everything from hand-painted bathroom sinks and tiles to copper doorknobs and

fine mirrors — at a fraction of the cost of simi-lar items in the States. I’ve got on my to-do

list an article about the best places to track down various items (with sidebars


about where to stay and what other things to do) that I hope to sell to a home-renovation magazine... or maybe turn it into a holiday-related piece and write about the best places in Mexico to go Christmas shopping.

Just as you should make note of what’s going on around you when you’re traveling, it’s wise to do the same even when you’re puttering about near home. Take note of a park that’s been cleaned up or a new shop or restaurant. If there’s a construction boom, find out what’s going up... you might get a jump on a profile of a new hot spot.

Create a Clip File...the Junk Drawer of Story Ideas“Clips” are stories you tear out of publications as you see them — things that trigger story ideas. I think of my clip file as my junk drawer of story ideas. Whenever an idea occurs to me — no matter how irrelevant to what I might be working on at the time — I jot it down on a piece of paper and toss it into a file folder I’ve labeled “Story Ideas.” Into this same folder go “clips” or sto-ries by other writers that trigger ideas. (Usually, I’ll put a yellow sticky paper on the top with my related idea on it.)

Another useful clip file I keep is event-and holiday-specific. If I go to an an-nual festival that I think I could write about for the following year, I pick up lots of brochures and maps and such, clip them together, and drop them in this

Quick Tip:What Is a Mistake You Typically See New Writers Make? Thinking that the nobody’s-ever-been-here-before aspect of a

destination makes it a good travel story. There are zillions of places no-body’s been or nobody’s written about — often for a very good reason (usually, there’s not a lot of reason to go!).

– Randall CurwinFormer Travel Editor, The Chicago Tribune


file. It helps, too, to scribble the holiday or time of year onto the info so it’s easy to find when you go hunting for it.

Remember, publications often want seasonal stories many months in advance. So if you’ve got an idea for a Christmas story... August is not too early to start querying publications about whether they’d be interested in publishing your piece.

I keep a third clip file of articles I’ve enjoyed reading — examples of strong writing by other people. (I suggested you do the same back in Chapter 2.) When I start working on a type of story I haven’t written in a while or some-thing that’s altogether new to me, I’ll flip through this “favorites” file of mine and see if I don’t have an example of something similar that I thought was done well.

Just as we did in the early chapters of this program when we went through some examples of well-written articles and analyzed what, exactly, the writers had done... I do the same on my own. It helps, often, to get the juices flowing. And I always learn new things when I study these pieces.

I keep one last kind of clip file as well — a series of folders that are my coun-try files. Each country I’ve written about — or would like to write about — has a folder. I clip out of magazines and newspapers anything I see that’s about these countries. Sometimes, I don’t even take the time to read the arti-cle. I simply tear it out and drop it into the folder. That way, when I go to write about that place, I’ve got the beginnings of my research ready to go.

I’ve been at this for years, and these files of mine are starting to take up a good bit of space in my office. I’ve been toying with the idea of scanning all this material into my computer and keeping it on disks — maybe one disk per destination. Another freelancer I know swears by this method.

Don’t Leave Home Without Pen and PaperAnother habit I’ve developed over the years is to always keep on hand a pad of paper and a pen. When I travel, I take along those “steno” pads with card-board covers and spiral bindings. They’re good in the rain and you can slide the pen into the binding for safekeeping. (I use a ballpoint pen ever since that trip to Belize years ago when my notes — not in a steno pad, and written in ink — bled into each other in a rainstorm.)


Also, I keep a little pad of paper and something to scribble with next to my bed. I know it sounds a bit excessive, but more often than you might think, some-thing on the late-night news or in a book I’m reading will trigger a story idea. And so it never hurts to have something on hand with which to write it down.

The Best Ideas Are Specific, Unique, and TargetedNow that we’ve gone through the best ways for you to harvest your story ideas, the next step is to sift through them and improve upon them. The best story ideas are specific, unique, and targeted to a particular audience. If you’re anything like me, what you’ll scribble on a scrap of paper and toss into your clip file will most often be just the core of an idea... something that struck you as a possibility for a piece, but not something you’ve really thought out.

So when you sit down to decide on the actual story you’d like to write, you must make sure that your idea is:

1. Specific. Don’t send a letter to a publication asking if the editor is interested in a piece about Belize. Instead, ask if he’d be interested in an article about the best jungle lodge or the top spots to invest in real estate.

2. Unique. If you’ve been reading a lot of travel stories, you’ll develop a sense after a few months for what’s run-of-the-mill and what’s new. Also, by keeping country files, you’ll have on hand some examples of what other people have written about the place

you’re going to write about — so you’ll know in what ways your piece will need to be different. I’ve found that one way to keep ideas unique is to think about what the stereotypical view of a place is and write to counter it. If most people know about the diving in the Bahamas, then you write about the hiking trails.

3. Targeted to a particular audience. When you target a particular audience with your story idea, it becomes a stronger idea. Here’s what I mean: If I were to write to the readers of Walking magazine about St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, my story would, most

likely, be about the trails there — the best walks, the best guide, the best time of year to go, maybe the best “outdoor” hotels to stay in. That story is spe-


cific and it’s unique — at least to the readers of Walking magazine. While you might find stories about St. John elsewhere, it’s not run-of-the-mill fare for Walking.

Over the Next Three Days, Come Up with Three Targeted Story Ideas

1. If you haven’t done so yet, grab a couple of file folders or three-ring spiral binders and create for yourself “clip files.” Make one your “Story Ideas” file into which you’ll drop articles that trigger an idea in your mind for a story you might write. Mark the second “Favorites” or “Good Articles” and use it to store articles that strike you as particularly well-written or which grab you in some way — maybe you like the way the author has structured his piece or the way he’s woven facts and advice into his story, for example.

2. If you’ve worked through the exercises thus far in this program, you’ve subscribed to a few travel publications and have, I hope, been reading them. Again, if you’ve yet to do so, go back through those publications now and see if any articles spark ideas. If so, tear them out, scribble your ideas down on pieces of paper, and clip or staple them to the relevant articles.

3. While you’re reading, also tear out articles you think are done particularly well. (You’ll know which ones... you won’t be able to put them down.) Then keep them in your “Favorites” folder so you’ll have them to come back to later.

4. Remember, you can find ideas in all sorts of places — not just in other articles. So now it’s up to you to do it. For the next three days, pay par-ticular attention to what you hear on the radio, see on TV, and hear on the street. Tune into a talk show and listen to the news. Think about what kinds of stories you might write that relate to the shows you’re watching and to the conversations you overhear when you listen in on what people around you are talking about. Come up with at least one article idea over each of

Exercise #8


the next three days. (Once you put your mind to this — you’ll find you see story ideas almost everywhere you look. You won’t have trouble coming up with three. The trouble will come in deciding which three are most worth pursuing.)

5. Sift through the ideas you’ve harvested. Flesh them out and decide which three are the best ones. Remember, each must be specific, unique, and tar-geted. So for each story idea, assign an audience and then a possible publi-cation. The idea is: The more specific you are about this audience, the better your idea is likely to be. Refine as much as possible. Ask yourself: Is this idea as specific, as targeted, and as unique as I can make it?

For example:

6. Now, make a list and fill in three of your own story ideas, audience, and possible target publications.

Story idea: off-season (winter) weekend in Montreal

Audience: affluent travelers who like Europe (France), perhaps US East Coast dwellers, don’t need to be French speakers

Publication: International Living or an East Coast newspaper. Could also check papers for destinations from which flights to Montreal are cheap — not necessarily East Coast

CHAPTER NINE A Fool-Proof Way to Come Up with Story …— William Saroyan P eople ask me all the...

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