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{"id":2323,"date":"2014-11-17T12:55:08","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T11:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-words.com\/?p=2323"},"modified":"2015-03-23T21:07:48","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T20:07:48","slug":"storytelling-in-written-travel-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world-words.com\/storytelling-in-written-travel-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Once Upon a Time: The Importance of Good Storytelling in Travel Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 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\u00a0and they know what they\u2019re 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 \u2014 depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing \u2014 stops just short of cloying sentimentality. Why do people love it so much? Because it\u2019s a familiar, well-executed story.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019ve fallen for Monty the Penguin\u2019s 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\u2019s especially important.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/p>\nNobody books a holiday because they are simply told to do so. They have to be inspired, even persuaded, to travel. Providing them with information alone won\u2019t galvanise potential travellers. You have a better chance of bringing audiences on board through narrative. Take the advert below. Travel agents Thomson introduces us to Miles, a raggedy and disenchanted one-eyed teddy bear, who finally finds a reason to smile during a holiday to Jamaica with his family. As luck would have it, his smile also bears a striking resemblance to the Thompson logo.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6kMlGymb8jY\" width=\"638\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\nIt\u2019s a classic story: sweet, simple and relatable in so far as the bear\u2019s humdrum existence probably isn\u2019t too far removed from that of your average nine-to-fiver. They too could find a way to escape the tiring repetition of day-to-day life. How? With a\u00a0holiday booked through Thompson.<\/p>\nOf course,\u00a0the audience isn\u2019t explicitly told this. They\u2019re told a story and given just enough breathing room to come to this conclusion by themselves. It\u2019s also memorable and shareable, both extremely important qualities for travel content.\u00a0So what makes a good story in written travel content? There are a few factors to keep in mind.<\/p>\nTruth and honesty<\/strong> \nThe story can be fictional, but if the audiences don\u2019t trust the storyteller or the story sits false with the brand, they aren\u2019t going to want to hear it.\u00a0Any story you do tell must be seen to be authentic and to come from a place that is truthful and genuine. It must adhere to the values of your travel brand or publication.<\/p>\nDevelopment<\/strong> \nDevelopment is the most basic attribute of a story. Presenting the facts alone won\u2019t cut it. There has to be a sequence of events to qualify as a story. One thing happens, then another, then another, and so on, so forth, until your reach your conclusion. If your story is fictional, it\u2019s easy to get things happening, but if it\u2019s a factual piece, you may have to mould it into the right shape.<\/p>\nThis is something Chris Haslam does effortlessly in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/magazine-29441074\" target=\"_blank\">this story\u00a0about a marooned baboon<\/a>, which he penned for the BBC. It\u2019s a classic desert island\u00a0narrative about a baboon stranded on an island. Haslam uses this narrative to draw our attention to a secondary, more important story \u2014 that of the ageing Kariba Dam, whose impending destruction could spell disaster not just for this lone baboon\u00a0but also for the wildlife and people of the\u00a0Zambezi Valley. Instead of merely relaying the facts about this perilous dam, he draws us in with a compelling narrative arc.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2329\" src=\"https:\/\/world-words.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/story-e1416079097986.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world-words.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/story-e1416079097986.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/world-words.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/story-e1416079097986-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/world-words.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/story-e1416079097986-500x233.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\nDrama and suspense<\/strong> \nEvery good story needs conflict and resolution. There must be ups and downs, which is why a travel article comprised solely of\u00a0effusive praise without caveat\u00a0won’t\u00a0have much impact. There has to be some sort of tension, some form of setback or suffering. There must be high and lows,\u00a0even if they’re only mild. If you can get your reader to\u00a0feel that they are involved, even if only for a moment, you have succeeded.<\/p>\nIn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhum.com\/features\/travel-stories\/detained-in-the-sahara-20120529\/\" target=\"_blank\">this article about being pulled from his vehicle in the Sahara<\/a>, Bill Donahue heightens the dramatic nature of the events by taking us along with him every step of the way. Each detail he reveals brings us a little further into the story, until we\u2019re holding our breath along with him, waiting in anticipation for the outcome.<\/p>\nMake it relatable<\/strong> \nFamiliarity doesn\u2019t breed contempt. Quite the opposite. A good travel story has something an audience can identify with. It might be a narrative trope that’s familiar to them, such an the underdog winning or a classic romantic arc. Or it might be that they can relate with the main character. So even if the reader is a somebody\u00a0who has never left and will never leave their hometown, they should still be able to identify with a piece from a traveller trekking through the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea. To allow them to make this connection, there must be something that reveals the writer as an ordinary and like-minded person. It\u2019s part of the reason the \u201cI-quit-the-daily-grind-and-embarked-on-a-full-time-adventure\u201d narrative works so well. It\u2019s also why humour and self-depreciation works in travel writing \u2014 it helps the reader trust the storyteller and to identify with the story.<\/p>\nIn <a href=\"https:\/\/natgeotraveller.co.uk\/destinations\/caribbean\/haiti\/haiti-voodoo-rock-n-roots\/\" target=\"_blank\">this piece on Voodoo and Haiti<\/a>\u00a0from National Geographic Traveller, the writer makes herself relatable by acknowledging her own misconceptions about Haiti; ones the audience and readership may well share. The ultimate goal of having relatable characters is that the reader might be able to place themselves in the story, or even momentarily imagine themselves in the main character\u2019s position. The more people immerse themselves in the story, the more likely they are to behave in line with the message of the piece.<\/p>\nThe moral, message or point<\/strong> \nIt\u2019s not necessary to have a moral, but you probably need to have a message of some sort in your travel content. Just don\u2019t jam it down your readers\u2019 throats. There is a very fine line between storytelling and manipulation and your readers\u00a0need to think they\u2019ve come to the conclusion at least partly by themselves. Allow your audience\u00a0to glean the point and make connections for themselves. This way, they\u2019ll become more involved in your story. It will also make them feel a bit cleverer, which is always a good thing.<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re not thinking about storytelling in your travel content, you\u2019re missing a trick. Sure, you could try wooing your audiences with practical information, statistics and science, but no one was ever moved by a PowerPoint presentation. It\u2019s the story that remains long after the dry facts have faded from memory.<\/p>\nTo see how we incorporate storytelling techniques into our written travel content, take a loot at our <a href=\"https:\/\/world-words.com\/#\/projects\/\">latest projects<\/a>. If you have any more storytelling techniques or thoughts to share with us, let us know on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/writingtravels\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n—<\/p>\nOnce upon a time CC image\u00a0courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/unephotos\/6819858446\/in\/photolist-dBzUiN-5KLZVv-7hKwYH-7FuTmD-fD9DBQ-boDyjj-jfxKEZ-6TLgoD-pugYxC-9cHyFS-5fnyD5-dTMNb8-bvH81M-pmM5VZ-4MJdgE-7jPtyG-52hfGe-gk3kB2-zMjJQ-dSjiHQ-4SEe78-f7VaeG-4qXVfe-9ke8M-6peSd4-pFouyh-8qAp9o-39WFRJ-5H2S5z-yvJUP-6rj8n-Kdt24-8qZivb-9Rk2z5-4BCyKd-98thDW-eCRRzr-7iLF1-dNj3za-nBm48-4zwok7-9b8dsm-ajrMvH-4qXo7U-4qXo9o-9b8drE-HCa4u-fB9ehM-bdSndK-7qimsC\" target=\"_blank\">UNE Photos<\/a>\u00a0via Flickr<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 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\u00a0and they know what they\u2019re going to get: a stripped-down cover of … <a href=\"https:\/\/world-words.com\/storytelling-in-written-travel-content\/\">Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[889],"tags":[903,904,918,924,982,1084,1115,1116,1117,1118,149,1119,153,1120,896,1121,898,1122,899,901],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Storytelling Techniques in Travel Content - World Words<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every good travel article and blog needs a narrative. 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