2009 June

Brandon Scott Gorrell Goes to Oakland

27 Jun 2009 in Notes From Road by Brandon Scott Gorrell

Sea-Tac. Photo: aturkus

Seattle writer Brandon Scott Gorrell navigates his way through the Bay Area on a book tour, seeking authenticity via “ragers”, street preachers, and hipsters with expensive-looking digital cameras.

SEA-TAC INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

After the security checkpoint I unsuccessfully tried to get wireless without paying for anything. Eventually I was in a long white hallway, slowly moving toward rap music coming faintly from somewhere. Seeing a person with a gigantic moustache, wearing a red, white and blue headband, skinny jeans, and “boat shoes” seemed to cause me to think “Jesus, god damn bitches.” The airport later forced me to watch CNN, which discussed health care reform, legalized online gambling, and crows attacking pedestrians in downtown San Francisco. The last thing CNN broadcasted before I boarded the airplane was footage of a Texas police officer tasing an elderly woman on the side of the road.

BART – SFO TO OAKLAND

Bart. Photo: blmurch

Things I thought while on BART, looking out the window, on the way to Oakland: “Damn, it’s shitty” “Damn, carpeted floors and carpeted seats, weird,” “Damn, seems really shitty, seems maybe like a ghetto,” “Seems like the movie ‘Friday,’” “All the buildings are the same color. Are all the buildings the same color? There’s a blue thing over there,” “Jesus, a bunch of high school students,” “Are those high school students ‘harder’ than me? Seems like those high school students are ‘harder’ than me.” “Jesus, liquor stores and fried chicken,” “This is taking a pretty long time,” “What is Chelsea’s apartment going to look like?” “Why don’t I see more hipsters?”

SAN FRANCISCO BAR/ OAKLAND “RAGER”

It was dark and the three of us were in San Francisco, walking at an uncomfortable pace toward somewhere. Chelsea needed to pee really hard and it was making me anxious. Bros lined the sidewalk at certain areas, smoking cigarettes and just seeming like bros. There were some older chicks walking around in “skimpy” clothes. Eventually we found the place—a bar called Hemlock—and paid a $6 cover charge to see Chelsea’s friend play, but the show was over when we got in. “Let’s get our money back,” Chelsea said.

We went to the bouncer. He called us a “pain in the ass” as he returned our money. A man approached me. “You get your money back man?” he said. “Yeah,” I said. “What, don’t you think the other bands deserve the money?” “We just came for the one guy.” “You think we don’t deserve your money man, we work hard man.” “We just aren’t seeing the other bands.” I looked at the face of Mike Young. It appeared highly alert.

At the “rager” people were screaming and playing guitar in a room. Someone with long hair outside the room—moving loudly between many different rooms for what appeared to be no concrete reason—was screaming sometimes. He came into the living room and flailed wildly for 20 seconds. He moved into a chair and said “Oh, cocaine cocaine cocaine cocaine, ohhhhh…”

There was confusion about my name, later. This is unrelated to the man on cocaine. “Wait, so what’s you real name?” the girl across a coffee table asked me. “It’s Brandon,” I said. “It’s just Brandon.” A man in the corner fell off a chair for what appeared to be no reason. “I can’t continue this conversation, that was too distracting,” I said. I looked at the girl across the coffee table. “Honestly, I can’t, that was weird.”

We left the “rager” as the person on cocaine was swinging a crowbar around in the kitchen while some men were arm wrestling. The people screaming and playing guitar in the room were still screaming and playing guitar in the room. I had sat in one location during the duration of my time at the party.

OAKLAND/ROCKRIDGE/READING AT BITTERSWEET CAFE

I wanted to have visited a place that would allow me to recognize in itself and its people a unique perspective on the world that I did not have, thus making me feel, I guess, that I was not authentic and was hopeless to attain any semblance of authenticity compared to these Oakland people that were steeped in authenticity. I really had that desire.

The streets in Oakland seemed large, bleak and noisy; delineated, sometimes, by gigantic highway ramps and overpasses, large intersections that made me feel small, and fast food places.

The author feeling embarrassed at reading.

Rockridge, where Bittersweet Cafe was located, seemed to be full of maternity shops, coffee shops, and “fancy” restaurants. The only people at the Bittersweet reading besides our friends were 50 year-old moms with sons in high school that “just happened” to walk in and sit down. I sold a couple books. Afterwards, we partied at a house.

SAN FRANCISCO/ PIRATE CAT RADIO READING

The Pirate Cat radio show was the only reading we had in San Francisco. The DJ was an old short man with dreadlocks. He talked quickly and generally ended up “lost” in metaphor or tangent—in a way I found hard to literally comprehend/find relevant—about oppression, peace, marijuana, or something “hippie-like”.

The cafe in which the studio was located was crowded. I felt as if I was on a variety show. A woman sang with a guitar about generosity. For the last minute or two of her song, she attempted to get everyone to sing along with her. Everyone sang along except for me and the people sitting at the table with me. I felt very embarrassed. I was grateful to Chelsea when, during the middle of it, she said “Which things should I read?” and handed me her book. I stared at the book until the song was over.

Mike, Chelsea and I later “talked shit” on the singer’s ideas about generosity.

OAKLAND HOUSE PARTY WHERE THREE BANDS PLAYED IN THE BACK YARD

We had to find a way to the party by some method other than walking because Chelsea was afraid of getting mugged. It seemed, upon receiving this information, that Oakland was “harder” than Seattle.

This feeling was reinforced inside the house: the walls were very artistic; male genitalia were drawn on the walls in black marker. I felt as if these people who had scribbled private parts in weird places knew some secret about life. Maybe they had, through their highly authentic pasts (i.e. fucked-up moms, living on an Alaskan fishing boat, or growing up on an industrial farm in Iowa), obtained an essence of life which emanated from their beings; physically manifested by the clothes they wore, their vernacular, their hairs. Their shoes. The essence was one of deep authenticity.

In the back yard, hipsters could be observed taking high definition photographs with expensive looking digital cameras with flash. Chelsea immediately began to go insane as her boyfriend’s band began to play, and Chelsea and I began to mosh really hard. I pushed people around. Sometimes Chelsea would punch me in the face or slap me a lot in the face. I sometimes looked at people that were not moshing. Most looked afraid. They whispered to each other, “I think they’re really drunk.”

I reassessed my perceptions regarding the party’s authenticity, feeling slightly alienated from society.

THINGS I THOUGHT ABOUT OAKLAND

Are the people more authentic here? Is this what California is like? Is this like the Beach Boys? Is California like the Beach Boys? Are we in wine country? Is this like the Beach Boys?

PEGASUS READING

It seemed as if a good amount of people came that were not our friends. I started my reading without looking at the audience or making introductory comments about myself. During the Q&A session afterwards, two women who appeared to be in their late 50’s holding notebooks asked us how to use blogs to promote their novels. It seemed as if they felt they were in a class about using blogs to promote themselves. As we answered they took notes. Sometimes one would make a sound and nod, as if something cathartic had just been explained. Another lady, also, it appeared, in her late 50’s, seemed intent on proving to us that the internet caused depression and could not provide “real” human connectivity. She was the one who introduced herself as an “artist”. She said “I’m an artist.”

Later, on the way home, I felt good about not making introductory comments about myself. I have decided to do it like that from now on.

NAPA READING

The bookstore was in an enormous “rich people strip mall” thing, featuring corporations such as Whole Foods and Target. There was a restaurant advertising on its A-frame sidewalk sign free range, organic fried chicken. I excitedly pointed this out to Mike. The bookstore clerks appeared disdainful of our presence. The only people there appeared to be Chelsea’s friends. I think I saw “wine country” on the way there. I referenced the movie “Sideways” to someone.

After the reading we went to Whole Foods. I got a salad. We sat outside in the heat, with Chelsea’s family, and ate the food. We went back to Oakland.

THINGS THAT IMPRESSED ME

I felt impressed when I got off BART at 19th Street Mission and saw a Hispanic man on a microphone, yelling things, I think, about Jesus. There were some men standing around him, looking stoic. I felt impressed by those men. I felt impressed when I saw a person wheeling a large rack of Mexican wrestling masks across an intersection, toward a little outdoor market. I felt impressed by the masks.

BSG “feeling emotional about ppl i met there”

I felt impressed by “826 Valencia” and had a nice conversation with someone in the little room with the aquarium. I felt impressed and good inside the shop “Needles and Pens.” I thought, sometimes, that San Francisco was bigger than Seattle, and kept calling it, to myself, “more metropolitan”, while concurrently believing that it was not “more metropolitan” than Seattle; it was weird. San Francisco seemed different than Seattle in some altered, more dirty, more real kind of context.

THINGS I HAVE NOT MENTIONED YET

Meeting people for the first time that I had known only on the internet caused me to feel very emotional sometimes.

IN CONCLUSION

I would go to the Bay Area again, for business or pleasure.

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Get Your Pen Moving: FOOD

22 Jun 2009 in Travel Writing, Photo, and Video by Teresa Ponikvar

We’re kicking off a new feature this week at The Traveler’s Notebook: every other Monday, we’ll give you a prompt, exercise, or topic to get your pen moving.

Photo: tnarik

You’ll send us whatever you come up with: a story, a description, a ramble, a collage, a limerick, a review—no restrictions on form, as long as you stick to the prompt of the week and, of course, the overall theme of travel.

The following Monday we’ll publish some of our favorite sentences, paragraphs, observations, or turns of phrase, so you can get a taste of what your fellow Matadorians are up to.

Aaaaand this week’s topic is…FOOD.

Photo: Flydime Feature Photo: Ginnerobot

So open your notebook (or laptop) and run with it. What do you have to say about food and travel?

The taste of barbequed goat, or the time you lived on Ramen noodles for 3 weeks straight, or when you first realized that apples, pears, and oranges are not the only fruits in the world, a review of your favorite taqueria in Chicago…

Paste your writing (up to 250 words) in the body of your email, along with your Matador community ID. Please put “FOOD” in the subject line and send to teresa@matadornetwork.com.

We look forward to reading your words!

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Australia By the Numbers

22 Jun 2009 in By the Numbers by MC Lars

MC Lars breaks down his recent “Down Under” tour by the numbers.

All photos: MC Lars

Consecutive hours spent driving from Brisbane to Melbourne after tropical storms canceled all Brisbane flights: 26

Hot girls from North Carolina we hung out with in Melbourne: 1

Non-annoying hot girls from North Carolina we hung out with in Melbourne: 0

Number of places we ate at that used the same wordplay in their titles that I had in demos for “This Gigantic Robot Kills”: 2

Number of monks who got drunk with us at a monastery near Melbourne: 5

Age of the oldest monk there: 92

Number of times I went to 7-Eleven for coffee: 12

How many days it took for me to learn the difference between “flat white” and “long black” coffee: 3

Number of comic book stores we went to in Melbourne that had awesome old-school Ninja Turtle toys: 2

Number of comic book stores that had the 25th anniversary re-releases: 0

How many koalas I petted at the Featherdale Wildlife Park in NSW: 3

The number of emus that tore up the cone with food for the wallabies when I was trying to feed them: 2

On a scale of 1 to 10, the determination with which DJ declared, “They can’t mess with me,” when we’d had enough of the emu terror: 7

My percentage of being Australian: 50

Distant second cousins and aunts and uncles I had dinner with in Melbourne on our night off: 11

Number of pages I got done for my graphic novel while traveling: 2

Number of pages I’ve gotten done since being back in California: .25

Number of times we listened to the new Eminem record: .5

Number of times we listened to Mewithoutyou: 7

Number of giant monuments to Australian “legend” Craig Giles in the small town of Finley: 1

Number of people in the touring party in Finley who had heard of Craig Giles: 0

Craig Giles, whoever he is.

The time I finally got to bed on our night off in Melbourne, as I listened to Bile on my iPod and wandered the streets, furious at my ex-girlfriend for something: 5

Number of times per week we ate at Subway: 4

Number of times I eat at Subway per week in the US: 1

How many times I told DJ I wasn’t going to drink at all this tour: 13

Whiskey and Cokes bought with our drink tickets at shows: 13

Number of female DJs at the Spectrum club in Sydney who had fun flirting with us: 3

Number of times I asked people about Alice Springs and was told that it was more expensive to fly there than to Asia: 5

Hours I spent watching YouTube videos about Alice Springs at our hotel when we had WiFi: 2

Number of times I’ve been to Australia: 4

How many people danced and sang with me after I played “Down Under” by Men at Work when I DJed after our Sydney club show: 8

On a scale of 1 to 10, how beautiful Australian girls are: 10

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much this second thing influences my decision to go back soon: 10

Community Connection

Headed down under yourself? Meet Matador’s Australia experts for insider tips, or read about the 15 things you can’t miss while you’re there.

Have a By the Numbers you want us to read? Send to david [at] matadornetwork [dot] com

Ready to submit your trip “by the numbers”? Send to david@matadornetwork.com.

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Florence Defaced By Graffiti, Declared Ugly and Depressing

22 Jun 2009 in Notes From Road by Tom Gates

photos by author

Matador’s Tom Gates goes off on the lameness of graffiti in Florence.

In what seems like less than a decade, Firenze’s famous beauty and charm has gone directly into the crapper.

The city has never been particularly effective at fighting miscreant ink but now it’s turned into a real doghouse. The markings are everywhere, even eye level on the walls around the Duomo. Alleyways and small streets are tagged dozens of times. Many large, wooden doors are blasted with paint. Signs are hardest hit, rendering bus schedules useless at many stops.

It seems like a great time to be a police officer in Florence. There are endless amounts of tourist photos to be taken, plenty of texts to be written and bottomless espressos to be sipped from tiny paper cups.

Cops in the city center socialize in circles, looking as if they might break out a hackysack at any moment. Bus and train station rent-a-cops seem to come standard with headphones and MP3 players. They all love to whistle.

Perhaps the police’s apathy makes Taggers work harder for attention. The words don’t support this theory though. They are banal tags, mostly names and initials.

There is no hint of artistic aspiration, like with the murals of Santiago or the clever Banksy’s that turn up in London. One can only picture 15 year old nimrods doing what 15 year old nimrods do; defacing and running.

It’s a frustrating thing, the lack of purpose involved in all of this. It makes the streets look like the set of a bad 1980’s rap video. There’s no “fuck the police” or political statement, no reason given for the defamation of centuries-old buildings. It’s just a bunch of crap spray painted on a wall.

One person seems obsessed with tagging the word “yogurt”, as many as ten times in a five block radius of The Uffizi. Another person has taken to simply dumping buckets of paints on ATM’s.

There is probably much that I don’t know about the war on graffiti here. Police squads that roam the street at night. Or perhaps a commission has been called.

Maybe the mayor isn’t taking 3 hour lunches and instead sits in his office, pining over how his city is being devalued. Maybe the tourism commission, whose Information Points are even tagged up, are not operating with blinders on.

Maybe there’s a master plan in the works to make Florence beautiful again, to make it look less like the inside of a toilet stall.

Or maybe nobody gives a shit.

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Advice for Writers: How to Handle Rejection

20 Jun 2009 in Travel Writing, Photo, and Video by Julie Schwietert

Becoming a professional writer means learning about how to handle rejection.

Photo: Brymo

So you want to be a writer.You’re disciplined enough to put pen to paper every day, you know the value of revision, and you’re confident you can craft a successful query or pitch.

But can you handle rejection?

Here are three tips to help you cope with inevitable rejections of your writing:

1. Don’t take it personally.

Writing is a huge part of your identity. It’s also the skill you’d like to ply in order to earn a decent living. But rejection of an article is not rejection of you as a person. Nor is a rejection a summary dismissal of the value of your entire body of work or your future writing.

The sooner you learn this lesson and apply it, the sooner you’ll be able to take advantage of these other tips.

2. Consider rejection a form of constructive feedback.

Photo: HandsLive

When you receive a rejection notice, sit with the disappointment for a few minutes. Then, step back from your immediate reaction and take a more analytical posture.

What information has the editor provided about the reasons why your piece was rejected? Now that you’re looking at the piece with fresh eyes, how might it have been stronger? What are its weaknesses? Does this piece really fit in the publication to which you submitted it?

If the editor did not offer any specific feedback (and there are many reasons why we don’t), consider responding with a brief, polite message thanking the editor for his or her time and asking the editor for any advice about future pitches and pieces.

3. Remember: Editors, like tastes, are subjective.

At Matador, we review upward of 50 submissions every week. We know by the end of the first paragraph whether a writer’s submission is likely to fit with the style, format, voice, and vision of our publication.

A rejection of your article doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re not a skilled writer. It often means your particular piece simply doesn’t fit the subjective scope of Matador’s publishing interests.

The same is true for every other publication.

Want to learn the craft of travel writing?

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Notes from the Road: To move under the Big Sky

19 Jun 2009 in Notes From Road by Joshywashington

In our 2nd Montana Road Trip video, Josh ponders what it is to travel under the Big Sky.

All footage shot by Joshua & Dustin Johnson.
Edited and Narrated by Joshua Johnson & Bridget O’Neill

When you look up into the Sky what do you experience? Have you had an encounter with sky that has left you humbled, enlivened or awe struck? Please share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

If you love travel videos then watch part 1 in Matador’s Montana Road Trip video series now. Looking for some inspiration? Read 4 More Reasons to Visit Montana NOW and Roadtripping Montana: The Beartooth Scenic Highway

Comments (4) | Views (1340)

Kelsey Timmerman: So You Want to Be an Author?

16 Jun 2009 in Travel Writing, Photo, and Video by Kelsey Timmerman

Kelsey Timmerman busting moves.

Kelsey Timmerman takes us through 8 years, and how he went from dreaming about being a writer to publishing his first book.

So you want to be an author?

Do you really? Seriously, do you really want it? Because it is possible.

When? That’s another question. But if you never give in, it will happen. I can’t tell you exactly how you’ll do it, but I can relate how I became a published author and what I learned about wanting it.

Your passion can’t be a secret.

The first night of my first major trip abroad, I was in Hawaii’s Waianae Mountains with a distant cousin who was living out of his van and driving a taxi. We were drunk on sherry and full of ramen noodles. I was 22 and a recent college graduate. My cousin asked what I planned to do as a career. I responded that I was thinking about writing, “like for National Geographic…or books…or something.”

That was the first time I said it aloud. I slept great that night. Sure, it could have been the belly full of carbs, the alcohol, and the flight, but I think it was because I declared right then and there that I was going to write.

From that day forward, I was either traveling to get stuff to write about, or I was home writing about my travels and working a job to earn money so I could travel and get more stuff to write about.

And write I did.

From that day forward, I was either traveling to get stuff to write about, or I was home writing about my travels and working a job to earn money so I could travel and get more stuff to write about.

Everyone knew my desire to write, not because I was talking about it all of the time, but because I was doing it.

The more you do something, the less you’ll suck (except for golf).

During the first few years, I made baby steps – my first paying online contribution ($20), a story in a couple of mid-range newspapers ($100-$200), and a few small newspapers ran my weekly column ($5).

I would revisit pieces I had written six months before to find that I could make them better. I looked at queries to fancy glossy magazines, embarrassed: “I wrote that?”

I was sucking less.

The same holds true today. The copy of my book that I read from at presentations has lines crossed out and rewritten.

You get to do what you love a lot more if someone will pay you to do it. But be patient.

Writing about my experiences in Kosovo for $5 or spending the night at Castle Dracula in Romania for $150 isn’t really sustainable. I looked at the experience and the meager pay as my grad school. And, as grad schools go, mine was pretty cheap. But sooner or later you’ve got to be able to support your habit. Know that this will likely be later than sooner.

I’ve been writing for eight years now and until the last year or two my expenses outweighed my income.

Keep the faith.

Go to writing conferences.

Yes, they can be painful. If I have to sit through one more session on how to write a query letter, I’ll spend the workshop writing query letters to hitmen to off me so I won’t have to suffer any longer. But, if you’re like I was, and have zero connections in publishing and don’t even know anyone who has written a book, writing conferences are huge.

I met an editor of the Christian Science Monitor at a conference in Dayton, Ohio. I just ‘happened’ to share an elevator with her, and I just ‘happened’ to sit beside her at lunch. She remembered a piece I had pitched her a few months back (did I mention that I queried every newspaper in the nation with a circulation over 15,000?).

After the conference I sent her a new piece and she published it. That publication led to radio essays, which led to more opportunities, and eventually a book.

At a conference in Indiana, I met my agent and made a contact that led to a $3,000 assignment.

I wouldn’t have a book today or much of a writing income at all if it weren’t for attending writing conferences.

There’s a difference between writing a book proposal and writing a book.

I had the idea of following the tags on my clothes around the world, but realized that no one would touch a new author who had to travel around the world to get his story. This wasn’t ideal. I paid for all of my expenses up front with the hopes that someday I might recoup some of them. I had a few assignments, but nothing that touched the costs.

There was a second mortgage involved. That’s how much I wanted it.

When I got back, I wrote a book proposal with the help of a few resources How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen and Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Herman.

Basically a book proposal is a business plan for your book – who will buy it and how you’ll sell it – complete with a sample chapter. Make your sample chapter your best stuff and be sure that it’s its own self-contained story with a beginning, middle, and end that captures the best of what your book offers.

You could write the whole book before you send it to anyone, but by the time it moves across an agent’s and editor’s desks, you might not recognize it.

Get an agent.

Subscribe to www.publishersmarketplace.com for their daily deals email. They report what agent sold what to whom. Pay attention to agents that are selling stuff like yours. Visit their website to see what their submission guidelines are and submit away.

Most agents want a query letter first and then they’ll ask for the whole proposal if the letter grabs them. Make sure that you tweak your letter and proposal how they like it.

The author with writing assistant.

I was able to skip the query letter process after meeting my agent at a conference. She was hosting a round table and I asked her about an agent who had contacted me after reading my blog. Before she answered my question, she asked what my book was about.

It was love — or the agent-author equivalent — at first sight.

I signed with her. She worked her magic on my proposal and, the next thing I know, I’m writing a post for the Matador network about becoming an author.

Never stop wanting it.

Some have told me that I’m fortunate to have had a book published before I turned 30. I appreciate the comment, but deep down when I hear this I’m thinking about the hundreds of thousands of words I’ve written and the hundreds of rejections and no responses I’ve received in the eight years from my writing declaration in Hawaii to the publication of my book. There was some luck involved, but there was way more hard work.

I’m sure some become authors in less than eight years, some in more. Regardless, there is one thing that every author (who hasn’t been kidnapped, landed a plane on a river in a major American city, or cut off a limb with a pocketknife) shares…

They didn’t sit around hoping to be published. They wanted it, so they went out and got it.

Community Connection

For more on Kelsey Timmerman, check out our review of his book Where am I Wearing?

Please check out his blog, where he’s currently hosting an ipod giveaway.

Want to learn the craft of travel writing?

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7 Most Inspiring Travel Video Channels on YouTube

14 Jun 2009 in Video by Joshywashington

Youtube is chock full of channels featuring travel videos. I wade through the digital detritus to bring a small sampling for your viewing pleasure.

GoGalavanting The gals at GoGalavanting offer up well edited travel videos and tips for savvy backpackers.

Overlander Mark Shea, aka The Overlander, does all filming and editing for this solid travel video series. And it plays in HD, always a bonus!

LonelyPlanet The official site of Lonely Planet produces and features a variety of high quality travel videos. With 124 videos and counting LP offers up hours of YouTube goodness.

Travelvideo Travel Video PostCard showcases short “postcards” from around the world. Each video is around one minute long and with 222 videos available, they are perfect for quick travel video snacking.

Travelfilmarchive Travel back in Time with The Travel Film Archive, a collection of travelogues and educational and industrial films that portray the world between 1900 and 1970.

Irishpolyglot Matador’s own Benny Lewis serves up videos from his world travels. From Benny’s channel: “I’ve been traveling the world for 6 years trying to learn about its languages and cultures and I’d like to share some of my experiences…”

Tripfilms Tripfilms is a great channel that showcases travel videos uploaded by their community of travel filmmakers.

Feeling inspired to share your adventures? Subscribe to Matador on YouTube and upload your own travel videos to our group

Feature Photo Courtesy of Mark Shea

Community Connection

What other YouTube Channels do you like? Please shout them out in the comments.

Creating your own travel series? Check out 8 Useful Online Tools for Traveling Filmmakers

Comments (4) | Views (3472)

Do You Need a Writing Degree to Be a Professional Writer?

13 Jun 2009 in Travel Writing, Photo, and Video by Teresa Ponikvar

Photo: Wonderlane

It’s a big decision: to spend a year or more and a big chunk of money on a degree in a notoriously unprofitable field.

With the proliferation of MFA and other writing programs since the 1970s, it seems that more and more would-be writers of all kinds are heading back to school. Should you? Some things to consider before you decide:

Does it have to be specifically a writing program?

Pretty much ANY graduate-level course of study will require you to write a lot. Would you benefit more from a degree in anthropology, geography, or ecology with a strong writing component?

Does workshopping work for you?

In a recent New Yorker article, Louis Menand described this cornerstone of writing programs as “a combination of ritual scarring and twelve-on-one group therapy where aspiring writers offer their views of the efforts of other aspiring writers.”

For some writers, the workshop is a useful, even essential, experience. As one writer told me,

I do think my writing and my ability to logically analyze writing – and therefore my ability to coherently explain what worked, what didn’t work, and why, and incorporate that into my writing and suggestions to others – improved in the workshop classes that were a part of the writing track.

However, workshops don’t work for everyone, and they don’t work every time. Not every group is compatible, and not every writer, no matter how brilliant, is a good discussion leader. For some writers even a “good” workshop can be stifling—and a not-so-good workshop, utterly dispiriting.

What’s more your style? Will too many suggestions and criticisms weigh you down, or will you appreciate having lots of opinions on your work in its tender early stages?

What are your goals?

As one writer and teacher told me,

This kind of [writing] degree can help you land a job TEACHING writing; it’s not as clear that it (or participating in the program itself) will help you BE a professional writer.

If you want to teach writing, a degree is probably indispensable. But if you’re looking for a career as a freelance travel writer, that piece of paper won’t necessarily impress editors.

However, in the process of getting a degree, you’ll probably make important contacts in the writing world, learn mechanics and grammar, how to work with deadlines, and possibly (depending on the program) how to sell yourself and your writing better—all worthwhile things. Do you need to spend two years in school to learn these things? That’s a call you’ll have to make.

Nerovivo

If you’ve decided that a writing degree is definitely for you, consider these things as you select a program:

How much debt will you accrue? Will paying it back prevent you from writing once you’ve finished your degree?

Let’s be realistic: if you’re going to be so far in the hole after you graduate that you’ll be obligated to accept the first paying job that comes along (whether or not it has anything to do with writing), having that degree in your hand won’t do you a whole lot of good.

If you’re not necessarily looking to be a full-time writer anyway, it might not matter so much that you’ll need a day job once you graduate. And many writing programs offer excellent financial aid options

Will the program try to “mold” you into a certain kind of writer?

This is one of the strongest arguments against writing programs: that some programs, and some teachers within some programs, will try to make your writing over in a certain image, rather than encouraging your own original voice and style.

On the other end of the spectrum, some programs or teachers are so concerned with letting you express yourself that they’re hands-off to the point of making you wonder what you’re paying for.

Before you select a program, ask as many current and past students about this, and talk to the instructors you’d be working with.

That Guy Who’s Going Places

What extracurricular options will you have? Does the program have a magazine or journal? Can you edit?

Participating in the process of selecting and editing writing for a journal or magazine can be an incredibly valuable experience: you learn to think like an editor, and thus to pitch your work more effectively.

Can you take classes in other disciplines for credit?

Obviously as writers we need material–and learning something surprising about astronomy, or Native American history, or microbiology–whatever floats your boat–can be excellent material. Especially if your travels are somewhat restricted by being on a grad student’s schedule and budget.

Bottom line: No, you don’t NEED a writing degree to be a professional writer, but if you choose the right program, it can help you be a better writer, and improve your chances for making it as a professional.

Most of the benefits of a writing degree can be found elsewhere (you can put together a workshop with friends, learn mechanics from a book, make contacts at conferences…) but probably not so neatly wrapped up in a single package.

That said, the WRONG writing program will probably do more harm than good, so make your decision with care, considering the writer you already are, the writer you want to be, and how you can best get from here to there.

Community Connection

Did you have a fantastic experience in a writing program? Tell us where!

Are you doing just fine without that piece of paper? Share your story!

Want to learn the craft of travel writing?

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Running Across Bhutan

12 Jun 2009 in journal pages by Tony Robinson-Smith

These journal pages come from Tony Robinson-Smith, who recently returned from a trip where he, his wife, and ten students ran across the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.

drawing of adolescent kids running across Bhutan.

1.“Averaging a half-marathon a day, the trans-Bhutan ‘Tara-thonners’ reach kilometre 377.’”

2.“People said the Lhops were amongst the most backward of Bhutanese minorities; I found them to be gracious and hard-working.”

Community Connection

Do you have a travel journal you’d like to share? Please send scans or photos of it to david[at]matadornetwork[dot]com.

Comments (7) | Views (1285)

Montana Road Trip: Heading to Yellowstone

11 Jun 2009 in Video by Joshywashington

photo; Joshua Johnson

Two Brothers, $200 and thousands of miles under the Big Sky. Join Josh and Dustin in this Matador original video series as they meander from Seattle to Yellowstone to Glacier and back.

It all started with a banner ad. “There’s Nothing Here” it said.

My brother Dustin and I had never been to Montana. But folks I knew who had been to Montana overwhelmingly used but one word to describe the 145,000 square miles of mountains, plains, glaciers and forests: Beautiful.

We had to see for ourselves.

The adventure continues!

Stay tuned as we sneak up on buffalo in Yellowstone, drive across the Big Sky and talk with rangers at Glacier National Park.

In the meantime, read Dustin’s blog Letters to Montana.

Do you Love travel videos? Do you have some of your own you would like to share?
Subscribe to Matador on Youtube, join our group and start sharing your travel media today.

Community Connection

Got an itch to Bike across Montana? How about some Big Sky fly fishing? Get yer fill of all things Montana on Matador’s Focus on Montana.

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Big Up Jenny Williams, Finalist for Story South

10 Jun 2009 in Travel Writing, Photo, and Video by David Miller

Jenny Williams, self portrait.

Matadorian Jenny Williams is writing award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Here’s what she has to say.

Jenny Williams was one of Matador’s original members and among its first contributors. I’ve been stoked to work with her and follow her progression as a writer over the last two and a half years, particularly her work outside of non-fiction / travel writing.

Whereas so much of current fiction seems like a parade of alienation and self absorption, Jenny’s stories have a strong root in place, character, and connection. It seems like the kind of writing that could only come from a traveler.

Jenny’s been killing it in 2009. Earlier this year, her travel narrative The Ringer was anthologized in The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009. Later this winter she scored an interview with acclaimed author Phillip Lopate.

The latest news is that her short story “The Fisherman’s Wife” has been selected as one of the top ten stories published online during 2008 by storySouth Million Writers Award. Please check the selections and cast your vote for the winner here.

She explains it like this. Imagine you are walking down a road you know well, all the while thinking of something else: a story you’re planning to write, or an interesting article you read in that morning’s paper, or what your lover whispered in your ear last night in bed. A flicker of thought, and you’ve traveled the length of the road one end to the other. You didn’t even know your feet were moving. –From “The Fisherman’s Wife” by Jenny Williams

I chatted with Jenny for a few minutes today on this story and fiction vs. nonfiction writing in general. Here’s what she had to say:

[David]: First up, “The Fisherman’s Wife.” Is it fiction / a fictionalized event?

[Jenny]: Yes and no; the character of Stella is based on my grandmother, who was born and raised in scotland, and the narrator is a kind of authorial/writerly figure. But part of the point of the story is to explore what it means to “imagine” a life — in other words, what it means to create fiction from fact.

I love that: “imagining a life.” Do you have an established pattern for creating fiction?

Every story is different. Sometimes I start with a character that fascinates me — “The Fisherman’s wife” is a good example. Other times I’m struck with a situation or a moment, and then the characters spiral from there. I’ve also written a few stories entirely based around a title that intrigues me, e.g. “the invention of zero.”

It might betray my clumsiness as a fiction writer but I feel more bound to wait until I have something that really moves me before I put pen to paper.

Is your approach different when you’re working in non-fiction / travel writing?

Jenny at Lake Langano, Ethiopia.

Good question! I guess when I’m approaching a travel essay or narrative, I have a good sense of my boundaries before I begin.

I know where the story starts and where it’s going to go — and I definitely recognize the moment where the piece will shift, the moment of revelation. Then I just have to get the details right.

Writing fiction is much more organic, and I try to let myself follow the story as it reveals itself. I don’t usually know what’s going to happen in a story until I get there. I love that feeling of being surprised by my own creation — when i stop telling the story what it’s about and it starts telling me. Both processes are equally satisfying in the end, though.

Any advice / inspiration for other writers out there struggling to find their voices / stories?

Go slow. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to publish right away. Read things that challenge you, that make you think about writing in a new way. And I might be in the minority here, but I believe that writers should always put their readers first.

Yes, writers should write what stirs them and be true to their own voice. But once we write something and release it into the world, it no longer belongs to us. It belongs to the people who have internalized it in some way. I think if more writers understood and appreciated that, we’d see a lot more writing that’s actually enjoyable to read.

Community Connection

Please read and vote for Jenny’s story here. You can also connect with Jenny via Matador or her personal website.

Want to learn the craft of travel writing?

Comments (6) | Views (1842)

Ecuador, by the Numbers

8 Jun 2009 in By the Numbers by Jon Brandt

Photos; Jon Brandt

Jon Brandt has been volunteering as an English teacher in Ecuador since September. Here’s a tribute to the things he’s experienced thus far.

Months in Ecuador: 9

Guinea Pigs eaten: 2

Times when cat calls were directed at me by large groups of high school girls: 4

Extremely awkward ‘kiss on the cheek’ screw ups: 8

Most consecutive days without speaking English: 4

Hours spent traveling on buses: 168

Nighttime bus hijackings: 1

Cities and towns visited: 22

Other countries visited: 2

Consecutive days seeing someone pee in the street: 270

Video by Jon Brandt

Soccer games attended: 3

Cock fights attended: 0

Cases of Malaria, Dengue Fever, Dysentery, or Swine Flu: 0

Average seasons per day: 4

Times summer was declared, only to be renounced the following day: 6

Major elections for a new constitution and president: 2

Number of meals served with rice: 230

Students taught: 126

Students who actually learned something: 8

Bootleg DVDs bought: 55

Bed bug scares: 3

Beer choices in Ecuador: 3-4, tops

Baltazar Ushca

Altitude-related beer explosions: 9

Times Facebook friended by random Ecuadorians I’ve never met: 7

In depth conversations about bowel movements: Any time 2 or more volunteers meet

Brutal sunburns: 2

Extra notches cut into my belt due to weight loss: 2

Hours of work per day: 4

Average games of Solitaire played per day: 25

Community Connection

Read Jon’s harrowing first person account of a midnight bus heist in Ecuador! Or, on the lighter side, learn how you can volunteer in Ecuador through the Experimental Learning Ecuadorian Programs.

Have a good “By the Numbers” you’re interested in submitting? Please send to david [at] matadornetwork [dot] com.

Comments (9) | Views (1437)

Tips for Travel Video: How to Get Engaging Interviews

7 Jun 2009 in Travel Writing, Photo, and Video by Joshywashington

photo; Joshua Johnson

How do you approach strangers and encourage honest, candid encounters?

Capturing spontaneous moments with strangers on film makes for the richest moments in your travel videos.

Beautiful landscapes and soaring architecture are all well and good but nothing is more captivating and telling of a culture than the people who have created it.

A few quality moments of a person responding honestly on film can be the height of your travel video.

The story of a city, a country, a political or artistic movement, is a story about people.
It is your job to let the people do the talking.

Here’s how.

Rule 1 ASK PERMISSION

The first thing to remember is that before put a camera in someone’s face or space is that you must ask permission. Even if you don’t share a common language it is easy to signify that you wish to film someone by simply gesturing with your camera.

What if I can’t ask permission because I am too far away or there is simply too many people in frame?

A good rule of thumb is that if in the video you can readily identify someone you need their permission. If your video is for non-commercial purposes that permission can be given on camera. For commercial videos you must have a signed release.

The rules have blurred considerably since the advent of social media, and when you add the possibility of subjects that probably may never have access to your video, you need to practice good judgment and respect peoples space.

If someone sees themselves in a video and doesn’t want to be in that video, they have the right to a cease and desist order that is pretty much infallible. As you will see in this video I waste no time filming once I have established I have permission.

Rule 2 IT’S ABOUT THEM

However fleeting your video encounter is, it is vital that your subjects are allowed to simply be themselves.

If they are a silent Holy Women or Men, merely allow them to be silent. Should they be a braggadocios politician, allow them to be loud and verbose.

The point is to capture them honestly and candidly.

Ask them about what they are doing
Ask their opinion on a subject they are familiar with
Get an anecdote

It doesn’t exactly matter what they say, it is who they are you want to capture.

Gently guide the interview but remember, what the subject wants to say is often far more compelling then what you want them to say. Make your subjects as comfortable talking to a complete stranger as possible. I prefer to hold my camera in a manner that allows me to maintain eye contact and engage my subject, occasionally glancing down to check the framing.

Rule 3 EVERYONE IS INTERESTING. . .

Especially people who do not share your viewpoint, political affiliations, occupation or cultural background. Approach the person you are about to engage as the most interesting person on the on the planet. And remember…

Everyone is on a unique journey.
Every journey is a story.
Everyone has something to share.

If you genuinely strive for an authentic connection, your subject just might open up and reveal some jewel about themselves that can be a powerful and moving theme for your video.

Community Connection

Can’t get enough travel videos? Check out 5 Places To Watch Free Travel Video Guides

Comments (6) | Views (1494)

Journal Pages: Paris, London, Innsbruck, Morocco

5 Jun 2009 in journal pages by Gabe Cabagbag

These 5 pages come straight from the travel journal of Gabe Gabagbag.

drawing of Eiffel Tower, and young man eating ice cream cone

1.“It’s Saturday and we just got to Paris via high speed TGV train. We pull up to our hotel, the Royal Voltaire, and my first impression is ‘man, this place is pretty ghetto.’”

Sketches of a young woman in police uniform

2.“Innsbruck: What I remember most was the police officer in the street, the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life.”

sketch of the Louvre in Paris and a hand opening a bottle of wine

3. “When in France do like the French do: pop open some wine and take it all in. . .”

sketch of a double decker bus in London and a young man from Morocco

4.“Morocoo: This place is definitely a humbling experience. Makes me feel so lucky about how we live in Hawaii.”

Mother and child looking over the cliff, Norway

5.“Honolulu > Los Angeles > Washington > Amsterdam. That’s 8 + 4 + 7 for a total of 19 hours and I’m running on a small bag of pretzels and a strawberry banana yogurt complements of United Airlines. As I watch the in-flight movie, Jumper, I realize the whole process would be so much easier if I just teleported.”

Interested in submitting your journal pages? Send scans or photos to david [at] matadornetwork [dot] com.

Comments (7) | Views (7169)

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