Guests

Spud Hilton

Spud Hilton is known for his humorous, sarcastic travel journalism pieces. He walked into the classroom with a red bull in hand (apparently his second one of the day), tight black V-neck, and energy levels to the roof.  After reading his piece Seeking the Holy Grail? Try Valencia, I was eager to hear his words of wisdom, and most important his advice in regards to including humor into your writing.

Spud explained, “Humor is wildly subjective. Not everyone gets it. The number of nasty letter I’ve got who didn’t get the joke would fill this room.” For some reason I was not surprised by this statement. “The best humor for travel writing comes from the absurdity of a situation.” I couldn’t agree more. However, it is essential that you don’t load down your piece with jokes. Half the time you’re the only one who thinks it’s funny.

I appreciated Spud’s extreme honesty. I have never been able to master the art of “pretty” writing, and felt a sense of relief when he informed the class that stories did not need epiphanies they just need a point.  Spud cleverly explained that the pretty writing is the frosting, not the cake. “What happens when you have the frosting and not the cake? You get diabetes.”

“They wrote about the place because they were there. Well guess what? That’s not enough reason. In order to be good enough to publish you have to have a point. It can’t just be rehashing a diary.”

Spud went on to explain that writers must have unique angles.  No one needs to read another piece on the food in Paris, or wineries in Napa. It’s important as a writer to create something that hasn’t been done.  You need your readers to get through the first paragraph and want to continue reading. Essentially, the piece needs to be enticing and fresh.

Spud told the class to write down three questions. In fact he told us to write down multiple statements throughout his lecture, as if his words were God sent, but I found these to be extremely valuable.

The first question was, “Why do I want to write this story? A good narrative story should tell you more about a place then they tell you about the writer. In Spud’s words, “ No one cares about you.”  Therefore, while writing your piece focus on what the reader wants as opposed to showing off your dazzling writing.

The second questions he asked was “Who are my readers?” Writing for yourself is fine; it’s art as Spud explained. However, when writing is your career it’s important that you have the readers in mind. Finally “What is the message I want them to take away from this story?” In other words, what is the universal truth.

While writing a piece it’s easy to get carried away with the multitude of events and activities that took place on a trip. I found myself having this issue while writing my first piece on Barcelona, Spain.  Spud explained, “The hardest thing to do is to have a point, know what that point is, and write to that point.” Travel articles are not diaries. Despite the urge one might have to reveal every single thing you experience on a trip it is important to narrow it down, and fine a single point. “A story is not done when you put everything into that you can. A story is done when you’ve taken out everything that you can.”

Before finishing his lecture, Spud told the class once more “Write this down. All great storytelling has to have a sense of wonder, and surprise.”

Thomas Wilmer

“What did you learn?”

This was the question that changed everything for Thomas Wilmer. After traveling around the world and back it is fair to say that he has lived a rich life, but this simple question made him rethink his methods.  To summarize his answer it was that people are basically good everywhere. It’s politicians, corrupt governments, and greed that change that goodness. Throughout Mr. Wilmer’s discussion it was clear that his goal was to emphasize this goodness through his work. While most media outlets focus on the violence and turmoil in the world I was pleasantly surprised to hear his first piece begin “Yes, there really is a Santa Claus and his home is literally smack dab on the artic circle in Finnish Lapland.” While replaying the video I couldn’t help but sway from side to side to the humorous Finnish Christmas music. Thomas Wilmer’s work is uplifting, joyful, and informative. More importantly, they give his listeners an unbiased look into the lives of people from all over the world.

Thomas Wilmer began his career in journalism as a copy boy for the Wall Street Journal. He has worked as a travel columnist, travel editor, photographer, and currently showcases his work on National Public Radio. “My show is not about me, it’s about Ginny Prior, my interview subject. My job is to introduce her and let her talk the whole time, only to interrupt periodically.” Mr. Wilmer explained that you interrupt to break up the voices, typically, every 1½ minutes. Because these pieces are audio clips, you have to see by sound. “Paint a sound picture,” Thomas explained.  This technique was evident in his “Santa Claus lives in Finnish Lapland” piece. It begins with Finnish Christmas music, which is followed by the sound of propellers roaring through the sky. Next, Thomas Wilmer begins his speaking portion, which is accompanied with additional audio throughout the piece. Ambient sound is extremely important because it places the listeners in the locality of your piece.  For example, if I was creating a piece about my time in Hawaii I might choose to include the sound of waves crashing against the shore, or possibly something a little less cliché.

As I listened to Thomas Wilmer explain the dos and don’ts of audio broadcasting I couldn’t help but fall victim to his soothing, made-for-radio voice. I felt like the sandman was sprinkling his magical dust onto my eyes.

“Capture their attention,” Mr. Wilmer exclaimed. “Find an auditory metaphor for what you’re doing. ”

This was going to be a challenge. It’s not uncommon for me to spend ample time writing a single sentence, and [still] end up with a super-lame, dull description. Lucky for me Mr. Wilmer shared some tips that will serve me well. One of my favorites being, “Don’t drag things on.” He explained that listeners, especially on YouTube, drop off quickly, and suggested that we create several vignettes to put into a single segment. For this reason, it is important to include diverse audio in our pieces. Without this assortment our pieces would equate to an 8^th grade history teacher lecturing about the Civil War.

Saint Mary’s College is celebrating their 150^th anniversary, which will be the topic for our radio show. Our assignment is to choose an interesting aspect of the school, and create an informative, engaging piece.  The class began listing ideas: the basketball team, the seminar program, the cats, and the integral program. Nothing grabbed my attention. What made Saint Mary’s the best four years of my life?

What have I learned?

Don George

Don George is an experienced and talented travel writer.  From 1980 to 1997 he worked for the San Francisco Examiner, a job he considered himself lucky to snag. From there he moved on to salon.com, one of the first online magazines, as well as Wanderlust. Currently, Don George is the global travel editor, and spokesperson for lonely planet. On January 8, 2012 he spoke to our class, providing us with the dos and don’ts of travel writing.

First he explained the difference between a service piece, and a destination article. A service piece is informing the reader of specific places to stop at localities: where to eat, where to stay, etc. On the other hand, a destination article explains what the trip meant to the author. For the purpose of our class we will be focusing on destination pieces. Don George explained that a destination piece is non-fiction, should illuminate a place, and bring it to life for the reader.

A destination article is a simple equation. There’s a beginning, middle, and an end. The beginning explains where and why you’re at a place. The middle takes up the majority of the article, and includes the sights, sounds, smells, and everything in between. Don George explained, “isolate the important things in order to get whatever your final end is.” He went on to explain the two steps involved in travel writing. The first step, the fun part, is the research. According to Don George, “you need to vacuum in a million details.” The second step is editing the information. “Select two, three, or four, which were the most important to convey to the reader.” The bigger anecdotes build on individual moments, encounters and impressions.

Don George explained that the key to writing a good travel piece is finding the pivotal moment.  “Build your story around that”, he stated. “What was the point? What was the excitement about?” Reverting back to his article we read the previous day in class, Baja: Touched By a Whale, it was clear what the pivotal moment was for him. Discovering this point in one’s travels, however, can be easier said than done. The difficulty I had writing my piece was finding that one ah-ha moment. My time in Barcelona was filled with so many spectacular moments, how could I possibly discuss one event. I decided to read it once more after Don George spoke to our class, and the mistake I made was apparent. The places I described were important and meaningful to me, but the reader had no way to feel the excitement I experienced. If you don’t put the reader on that beach in Mallorca, or in that awesome bar in Spain, they’ll have zero attachment to the article or the place.

Don George explained a couple of different methods to help us with out writing. In terms of finding the key moment in our trip, he suggested that we recall our answers to those who inquired about our travels. “What did you say when they asked how your trip was?” Additionally, when asked how he dealt with writers block, he explained that he wrote about it. I’ll definitely be trying that one out. While I began to write my first piece, I struggled to get things rolling. For several minutes I typed and then erased typed and then erased. Don George suggested that if you don’t yet know what your ah-ha moment is, skip the beginning and move to the middle. While describing your experiences the main take-away will likely become apparent.

I not only found Don George to be extremely helpful, but I also admired how passionate he was about his work.