Once Upon a Time: The Importance of Good Storytelling in Travel Writing

It’s that wonderful time of the year again, when the John Lewis Christmas advert has people all around the country reaching for their hankies. Viewers tune in their thousands and they know what they’re going to get: a stripped-down cover of a classic pop number by some young up-and-comer, a cute animal and a gentle tug on the heartstrings that — depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing — stops just short of cloying sentimentality. Why do people love it so much? Because it’s a familiar, well-executed story.

Whether you’ve fallen for Monty the Penguin’s charms or not, there is something to be said for the John Lewis method. Good storytelling works and not just in retail. In the travel industry, it’s especially important.

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Seven Winning Habits That Will Help You Produce Quality Travel Content

Good written travel content is the result of three main factors: an interesting idea, solid research and great writing. Attaining these goals is easier than you think; it’s all about the habits you form. Just as bad habits can ensure bad content, developing good habits can ensure consistency and quality throughout your written travel content.

Here are seven habits that we think are well worth forming…

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From the Grapevine: Dead Sea Rave

Last week, while 20,000 ravers were getting their groove on, we were busy writing about it.  We produced our first travel article for Israeli-focused website, From the Grapevine. Our piece zeroed in on one of the biggest music events in the Israeli calendar, the -424 Dead Sea Rave. Never heard of it? You soon will.

It’s a huge 12-hour electronic dance music event that takes place in a secluded desert site in eastern Israel. The bad news is, you’ve already missed it, as it took place on Thursday October 23 (don’t worry, there’s always next year!) More than 20,000 ravers turned out for the occasion and it was headlined by a shedload of EDM DJ superstars, including Paul Oakenfold, Deep Dish and Dash Berlin. Not only was the lineup pretty spectacular, but the setting for the rave was too. It took place in the Judean Desert at the foot of Mount Masada. This spot also happens to be the lowest point of land on earth at 424 metres below sea level, which explains the event name.

In the build up to the rave, we caught up with the event promoter and some of the up-and-coming Israeli DJs who were scheduled to perform to hear a little more about it. The article appeared on the From the Grapevine website here, but you can also read it in full below…

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Battle of the Sexes: Are Women Better Writers Than Men?

The good folks over at Grammarly, an automated grammar checker and grammar coach, have been trying to find the answer to an age-old question: When it comes to writing chops, which sex has the upper hand?

They polled 3,000 men and women to find out which writing traits were associated with which gender and the answers can be found in this infographic below.

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