IMPROVE YOUR TRAVEL WRITING SKILLS with Vivien Morgan (5-week course)

Join this free 5week writing course and learn how to write and film about travelling.

Do you enjoy travelling and want to write about your journeys and experience? Is it a career choice and you are a ‘content creator’ or wish to be one? Or do you just want to tell and show family and friends about places you have visited?

This is your opportunity to spend 5 weeks learning to be more creative in writing and reporting about places you visit, while developing good writing skills. Come away with practical advice and experience on how to improve whatever your goals and ambitions. We even do a session on using your mobile to film video!

This course is for all kinds of travel writing, whether it’s for a blog, newspaper or magazine, video or feature piece. Are you a blogger, influencer or working in PR with travel clients? Or even a travel guide and in a travel agency advising on destinations and itineraries? Or just a passionate traveller wanting to describe what you have seen and where you have been? Then this course will benefit and inspire you.

It is a practical writing course with plenty of exercises to expand your range and talent from writing to a specific word count, to a given subject and different format. We’ll analyse and discuss; offer tips using Powerpoint; develop your skills and give you individual attention to find your style and voice.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

· Learn about story structure, writing to length and different formats or genres

· Get practical advice on how to research and use available resources

· Look at sustainable and eco-tourism trends and your stance

· Develop a personal style and voice

· Exercises in reviewing, editing and refining your writing

· Have the Opportunity to share your work with others in the group

· Career advice for aspiring travel journalists. Marketplaces for pitching and selling-in stories

· The benefits of a career as a travel writer

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

The course will be presented in five 2-hour sessions and will take place in Kensington Central Library.

You can sign up to the whole course only - please book only if you can attend all five sessions.

Eligible: residents of London aged 19+ (Please note that applications from those who are unemployed and residents of Kensington and Chelsea will be given priority).

**You can apply to just one of these FREE GLA-funded courses in an academic year (September 2025 - 31 July 2026).

DATES:

Tuesday 14 October, 6pm to 8pm

Tuesday 21 October, 6pm to 8pm

Tuesday 28 October, 6pm to 8pm

Tuesday 04 November, 6pm to 8pm

Tuesday 11 November, 6pm to 8pm

We have only 10 fully subsidised spaces on this course, so book early but please note that YOUR PLACE IS NOT CONFIRMED UNTIL YOU RESPOND TO THE TUTOR AND FILL THE ENROLMENT FORM, PROVING YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING. THE FORM WILL BE SENT TO YOU BY THE TUTOR ONCE YOU BOOK HERE.

The £3 BOOKING CHARGE IS REFUNDABLE ON REQUEST.

*Please note the names and email addresses of all who book will be shared with the tutor, Vivien Morgan, who will contact you to send you an enrolment form.

Contact libraries@rbkc.gov.uk if you have any queries about booking.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COURSE

Tuesdays, 14 October to11 November, 6pm to 8pm

Over the 5 weeks you will be encouraged to share, think and learn about all aspects of travel writing:

• Share and set objectives for your personal aims and ambitions
• Get personal attention to overcome any inhibitions and worries about writing
• Help you develop your kind of storytelling and your audience
• Join in discussion and analysis about the difficulties of writing for work and pleasure, how to set about it and prepare.
• Gain practical, illustrated advice on the steps needed to improve your travel writing and answer your questions
• Make the journey from developing story ideas and where to find them, to planning and structuring before writing
• Provide the course time as the space to write and work on a piece for review
• Build your confidence in self expression in a friendly and helpful environment
• Get close to realising your ambitions and progress your travel writing
• Earning a living with travel writing- facts and suggestions
• Learn from a published novelist about her tips and writing career

WEEK 1 – INTRODUCTION TO COURSE

Individual introductions by the group

Sharing and setting of aims and outcomes from the course.

Examples of good writing by Tutor, well-known travel writers and journalists

Discussion of what defines responsible travel writing

What skills are useful: research, a ’nose’ for new approaches/places/ passions and trends. An ‘eye’ for taking good photos

Fun Exercises in developing a storyline as a group

Homework each week of writing to share with the group

WEEK 2 - BEFORE WRITING - DEVELOPING STORY IDEAS

Defining storytelling and writing.

Where to find stories and follow trends or be a trendsetter

How to structure a piece. The storyline, angle, length of a piece

Looking at styles of writing for you

Know your audience and their interests

Exercises on different topics

Peer review and Discussion

Work on individual ideas to progress.

Homework to bring to the next session

WEEK 3 - IMPORTANCE OF FINDING YOUR VOICE

Writing in the first or second person

Painting pictures with photos and video-to accompany your words

Exercises

Examples of video travelogues

Photo and video copyright

Adding emotion and tone for impact

Looking at a range of good and bad examples to discuss

Q&A and new homework on writing a piece

WEEK 4 – YOUR WRITING STYLE

Re-cap on genre, technique, voice and style

Discussion about any difficulties in writing. Participants to update on their progress and questions.

Importance of re-writing, editing and reviewing your work

Exercises in writing short pieces to a specific word count and deadline

Exercise in editing

How to use your mobile phone to film travel reports.

WEEK 5 - PRINCIPLES OF TRAVEL WRITING

Re-capping the course information: skills of writing for a specific marketplace, in a particular style and with a defined approach

Video filming- more on this necessary part of your content creation

Review of participants’ progress and new focus for writing

Practical Information on legal issues, sponsored trips, managing finances, health and insurance, visas and travel warnings

Earning a living writing- facts and suggestions

Your way forward- individual support

ABOUT THE TUTOR:

Vivien Morgan started in broadcast TV journalism working for many of the major network channels including BBC TV, CNBCEurope, ITN and CNN in news, current affairs and business programming. She has extensive print journalism experience as an Editor of supplements for The Telegraph and Journalist for the Sunday Times magazines. A features writer and contributor for many national newspapers, Vivien taught broadcast and online journalism at 3 UK universities, before moving into PR and communications.

Now an Author of 3 books on videojournalism and a history book on cross-dressing women soldiers, she enjoys inspiring others in the art of writing for different platforms and developing their skills.

TESTIMONIALS FOR VIVIEN:

-Very much enjoyed the course. Well delivered and guest speaker was very interesting

-I loved the course and Vivien was great, thank you!

-Such a brilliant course! I would love to do it again in the future. I have already recommended this course to several of my friends and colleagues.

-The teacher is fabulous, no better opportunity for collaboration and connection.

-More courses like this please; Vivien is a very good and knowledgeable tutor.

Thank you Viven for all your advice! The past 3 weeks have been so so useful!

-MyLifeMyChoice charity

Thanks so much for that session. It was fantastic and from the engagement I think people really enjoyed it. Really appreciate your time on today's masterclass It was so comprehensive and I certainly learned a lot! Thanks too for going above and beyond in taking questions in the chat box throughout the event. That was brilliant and I'm sure people really appreciated it.

- Ed Gove

I had a great masterclass today on the art of storytelling narrative with the amazing @vivemorgan. Thanks for all the tips and advice.

- Karmeta Clarke

Vivien Morgan,Masterclass Don-You Inspire Us!

- London 360News

I just wanted to say again thank you so much. It was so valuable for the students to benefit from your time and experience, and we really appreciate your time and effort. I hope you enjoyed it as well!

- Alison Baker