Feb. 3 – Guts Writing takes guts. I suppose that the one thing that has always kept me from writing more often is a lack of "Nike" spirit. A writer writes, they say, and I believe it. I just haven’t done it. Enough anyway. Every once in a while I’ve gotten a fresh new attitude
Feb. 3 – Guts
Writing takes guts. I suppose that the one thing that has always kept me from writing more often is a lack of "Nike" spirit. A writer writes, they say, and I believe it. I just haven’t done it. Enough anyway.
Every once in a while I’ve gotten a fresh new attitude and said that I was going to start writing every day, really practicing the craft. Then I’d start to journal and it would only last for a few weeks. Mostly, I’d get in my own way. I’d say that I didn’t have enough time, or that I was working too many jobs. To the outsider, these excuses could be viewed as true, but come on, it only takes a half an hour every morning to get into a good habit. Then you grow from there… once started you find yourself spending 45 minutes, and hour, and even more.
This trip was going to be different. I’d really do it this time. I’d work on my writing like never before. I had two different journals, this travelogue, articles to try and sell, plus a book or two on the back burner. Who was I kidding? Actually, I haven’t done that badly. Almost every day I’ve written something – whether it was a journal entry, a story from the trip, a handful of postcards, or a four-page letter to family back home. As long as I have the pen flowing, to myself or someone else, I’m connecting to a cause that has been dormant for some time.
If you’re out there working on your writing, don’t beat yourself up if you’re not punching out a chapter a night for the next great novel. Sure, it’s doable and it’s a good goal to have, but just make sure to give yourself credit for the little stuff too. Whether you’re writing a book, an article, a song, a poem, or something else, all writing is conceived by an inspired idea.
Ever since I had it in my head to come to Oz in January, I had the idea of going up to where Survivor: The Australian Outback was filmed. With the first series garnering so much attention, I thought for sure the second one would as well, if not get even more. A destination piece on the area surrounding where Survivor II was filmed would be a shoe in. Well, I could only hope, and give it a good hard go.
However, I’ve been here three weeks, and efforts have not been 100%. Sure I’ve done guidebook and online research on the area of Northern Queensland where it was filmed, as well as a route to get there, but I haven’t actually made final transportation plans to get to Cairns and start the journey southward.
Sometimes you get more than one idea at a time, and if doing both of them at the same time is slowing you down, let one go and keep moving. This is the wall I’ve put up for myself this time.
I also had wanted to write a story on The Ride Guide, put out by Adventure Air (www.rideguide.com). They are a group of pilots that have put together a manual to show backpackers how to get cheap or discounted flights by taking advantage of empty, unused seats on chartered planes, cargo planes, business jets, etc. I was hoping to use the Ride Guide to get a flight to Cairns, thereby giving myself the material for two stories, and not just one. The calls I’ve made to air-taxis and charter flight companies here in Brisbane haven’t resulted in anything.
Wanna Be a Travel Writer?
Often, a good way to break into writing for a travel section of a newspaper, is to do a weekender story. Either online or at the library you can research past issues of your travel section and see if they have a department devoted to local travel. Most of the big papers do. I know that the San Francisco Chronicle travel section is always looking for these types of stories.
What kind of hidden treasures lie in your own backyard? Weekender stories are usually within a day’s drive and represent a back roads getaway or an escape from the daily grind. Be creative. Study what has already been done, and do something different.
Now I’m at the point of reaching deep into my pockets and pulling out the courage I need to keep going. I either need to fire up and get to the airfield and give it one hard try to get a flight Ride Guide-style, or I need to say to myself, "Time is no longer a luxury. If you want to go and get this story, Jennifer, you have to let go of the adventure flight and spend the money to get up there and do it. Commit to one and step out the door. "
After all, good ideas are only those, ideas, until they are followed through.
So, here I go, Stay tuned to see what happens next.