writing tips | On My Canvas

9 Creative Writing Tactics to Enrich Your Travel Writing

writing about travel on the mountain in-the-mehli-forest-himachal himalayas

My Top Travel Writing Secrets I Probably Shouldn’t Share

I have been writing about travel for ~~two years now~~ four years now (update 2022). When I started this blog, I wrote about personal growth and life inspiration. But because I travel constantly and I relish writing about nature, people, and experiences, I began writing travel articles on On My Canvas. (I’m an itinerant writer now.)

When I first ventured into travel writing, I panicked every time I put down my solo excursion tales and travel guides. I didn’t know how to write about traveling. I didn’t have the right tools. I remember telling my partner it would be a long time before I write good, relatable travel stories readers will enjoy. (my ideas about good writing.)

But even as a beginner travel writer, I wrote subjective articles such as why I travel and how can we stop ourselves from turning into the worst dictators (inspired by Cambodia). I have always preferred penning down personal travel memoirs rather than writing about the five things to do.

Some of my travel writings turned out to be good and some bad. So while this piece on the love and hate relationship with India won accolades, I’m still ashamed of this Vietnam photo essay.

I continued writing about trips to Southeast Asia and South America. As I published frequently, I started getting a hang of travel writing.

a paper with pen as feature image for writing tips for beginner writers (1).jpeg

Three years ago when I quit my investment banking job to write, I was a beginner writer. (I am still a new writer.)

First, I decided to travel to Chile and teach English there. People say a new environment and immersive travel experiences inspire one to write.

The high-altitude Andean landscapes took my oxygen away. Chileans stared at me until I was gone from their view. My host mother fed me pyramids of bread and cheese. Spanish dumbfounded me. But during the chaos, I managed to write most days.

In the past three years, I have written (almost) daily, published regularly on my blog, earned by writing for clients, published poems in a book, contributed to many Medium and other big and small publications, published stories in magazines, and become a top writer on Quora and a top Travel Writer on Medium. [Update 2022: Four+ years on, I’ve more achievements to list. But the fact that I write daily remains the same.]

Has writing been easy?

Are you joking?

mixed colors to show struggle as new writer

My Journey as a New Writer

When I say a new writer, I mean someone who didn’t dare to make writing her life. Or to even think about earning money from her writings. Or to be able to imagine that her story or a poem might get published. Or to be able to say out loud that she is a writer.

But.

She has made writing her life, recently. She earns money from writing. Her day revolves around writing. Her poem got published. Sometimes she stammers that she is a writer.

She still gasps for breath as she wakes up every morning bearing a writer’s responsibility. She becomes too hard on herself while maneuvering her newly-found writer’s freedom.