Iyer, Pico. "The Nine Commandments of Travel Writing." Conde Nast Traveler: the Truth in Travel. Sept 2007. Web. 9 Feb 2012.
This is a neat little article about travel writing--apparently Pico Iyer is a pretty big deal, so I'm glad I found another of his articles. He also has several books which I might check out at some point. Anyway, this article starts out with a quote that I really love: "for 20 years I've been writing books which appear on the travel shelves, but none of them, deep down, have anything to do with travel. Yet the first thing any traveler learns is that every rule is made to be broken." This quote exemplifies a lot of advice that Iyer gives in his article. He states that travel books are more about the authors than about travel, and that every good travel book is a quest or a question that's never answered. I was pleased to find a couple of his "commandments" stating that travel writing is more about writing than it is about traveling; also, that you don't have to venture far to travel. These are good things to keep into account because as I'm writing in London, the city will most likely be the context for many of my essays, but it won't be the focus. The focus, rather, is good writing and introspection. Also, his statement that you don't have to venture far to travel is fun because even though I'll be in London writing, I won't have to seek daring and dangerous adventures in order to find good material. Although there is always a place for daring and dangerous.
For example: this time around, I am DEFINITELY going on the Jack the Ripper tour of London. Who's in?
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