Travel Writing, World's Worst Places to Work, Shanghai vs. Beijing – General
www.chinatravel.net — People enjoy a good horror story. In fact, travel writing often feeds on the negative aspects of a place rather than the positive. A guest lecturing journalist at my university once said that good travel writing is full of horror, the unexpected and the absurd. There is nothing more boring to read, he said, than someone writing about their perfect honeymoon at the beach with their soul mate, where the weather is wonderful, the food is fabulous and the couple return home tanned and more in love than ever. That's a story that lacks a good plot. A good plot develops with failed attempts, struggle, adversity, terror, rage, intrigue and a dash of romance. Of course, travel writing is supposedly non-fiction. But writer's craft and framing definitely plays a heavy role in travel writing.
