Writing Beyond My Boundaries: Peter Carty's Travel Writing Course

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For some time, I kept getting an email from the Guardian advertising a travel writing course with Peter Carty.  Of course, it is one of those computer-generated things; at least once a week, I am informed of teaching jobs in Nepal or media placements in London.  However, the frequency of the ad, and the fact that it was always the same one, encouraged me to look into it.  I have been planning to give up teaching for some time now and considering ways to make money from my writing.  I couldn't help thinking that perhaps this was a sign.

Many people think if you can write, you can write anything.  Is there much difference between writing a crime novel and describing a trip to the Great Barrier Reef?  Well, yes, there is actually.  I have written some travel articles over the years: sometimes a review of a place I have stayed at; sometimes something wider in scope.  I enjoy writing articles with an historical basis - like one I did of interesting churches in Zimbabwe and another of the history of Robin's Camp in Hwange - but I am not the sort of person to write that semi-advertorial stuff, describing the crisp linen of the hotel and 'the friendly and obliging staff'.

Which is one of the reasons I am glad I did this course with Peter Carty. Lesson number one: ditch the cliches. 'Breathtaking scenes', 'nestled among the hills' and 'awe-inspiring scenery' are examples of the type of writing that is NOT going to get your article into the Telegraph or Guardian.  Instead, Peter insists that the travel writer must describe what makes something breathtaking or awe-inspiring.  Describe what you see, hear and feel rather than resorting to tired, hackneyed phrases such as 'unforgettable' and 'uniquely placed'.

The course was conducted over Zoom, although three of the participants were in the room with Peter.  Those online joined from all over the world.  While I tuned in from humid, rainy Bulawayo, there was someone else situated on the Arctic circle and another person in Finland. Peter is very relaxed and chatty.  It turned out he knew Zimbabwe well from living here in Harare in the 1980s.  When you come from a country that most people couldn't identify on a map, it is always a bonus to find someone who knows something of where you live.

Every week there was some sort of homework and some reading to do, and eventually we each had to write a 500-word travel piece.  At first, I was really stuck.  I hammered away at a piece on Nyanga that just didn't work.  It was partly historical, partly travel and partly, or, I feared, mostly, nothing at all.  Finally, I swept it aside, took up a new sheet of paper and said to myself: 'Right, Bryony, forget all the stuff you just wrote and start again.  You are there. In Nyanga.   What can you see?  What do you feel?'  I sat still as the smell of wood smoke and pine trees came to me.  As the mist rolled in, I began to write of Troutbeck and Connemara and cold mountain waterfalls. The biggest challenge became the length because trying to describe why Nyanga is 'breathtaking', 'awe-inspiring' and 'unforgettable' in 500 words is difficult!

Now the course has ended, the feedback has been delivered and Peter has wished us all well with our travel writing ventures, the main question is what next?  To get an article accepted by a major publication is quite a hard task, and it is definitely best to start small and build on one's experience.  For me, the course reminded me how much I enjoy reviewing places and how there are different options for expanding my writing career.  Now even when I go out for a cup of coffee somewhere, I mentally write a review of the place and my experience of it. Whatever comes of my writing, it is good to try something different.

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