Travel feature writing with Mike Carter and Joanne O'Connor

Do you love exploring new places? This masterclass will teach you how to turn your travel experiences into truly compelling prose. Whether you want to write about a city, a country, or a round-the-world trip, you’ll learn how to transform your observations and research into first-rate travelogue pieces.

Suitable for writers of all levels, the course is led by award-winning travel writer Mike Carter, whose work has appeared in the Financial Times, the Guardian and the Observer. Using his vast reserves of experience and enthusiasm, Mike will teach you how to structure a piece, write a compelling introduction, and make a place come alive through writing. In addition, you’ll receive invaluable advice former Observer Travel editor Joanne O’Connor on becoming a professional travel journalist.

The weekend includes lots of practical writing exercises to reinforce learning and ensure you progress as a writer. Plus, you’ll even have the opportunity to get feedback on your work both before and after the course. Don’t miss out on the chance to learn from two of the UK’s most experienced and passionate travel writers – book your place now and let Mike and Joanne help you to make your writing the best it can possibly be.

Course content

• Finding your style as a travel writer
• How to take effective and useful notes during your travels
• Confidence-boosting tips on how to kickstart the writing process
• How to write the most important part of any travel story: a compelling introduction that will have the reader gripped
• How to use the “building blocks” of travel experiences to create the main body of a piece
• How to avoid cliché
• Writing great dialogue
• How to make your writing appealing to a broad audience
• Common pitfalls – and how to avoid them
• Practical writing exercises
• Post-course exercise: participants have the opportunity to submit a 500-word piece to Mike for personalised feedback
• Q&A and discussion

This course is for you if...

• You’re a new writer who wants to turn your travel experiences into compelling travelogue pieces and features
• You’re an experienced writer in another field wanting to explore the world of travel writing
• You’re passionate about travel and want to learn how to transform your experiences into coherent pieces of writing

Tutor profile

Mike Carter has been travel writing for 10 years. He writes regularly for the Financial Times, and has written for the Guardian, the Observer, The Sunday Times, Harper’s Bazaar and Daily Express. He is the author of two travel books – Uneasy Rider, which won the 2008 Oldie Travel Book of the Year, and One Man and his Bike, published in 2011, which documented his 5,000 mile cycle ride around the entire coastline of Britain.

Guest speaker profile

Joanne O’Connor has been a travel writer and editor for 20 years. She was Travel editor of the Observer from 2005 to 2010 and has spent the last few years working as a freelance journalist. She writes for most of the broadsheet travel sections and magazines such as Marie Claire, Tatler and BA Highlife, and has a travel column in the Observer magazine.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website