Photo: designwallah

If everything is “the best” or “the most,” what’s left as least or worst… or in between?

I’ve decided to collect all the superlatives I come across in the month of May. The purpose? To see if the use of “best of”/”most of” is really as common as I think it is, and then, to reflect critically on what it means to classify everything in categories of extremes.

I won’t be going out of my way to look for superlatives–I’ll just be collecting them as I come across them.

If you find any, feel free to send them my way. I’ll post my findings here at the end of the month.

This time last week, I was in Chile, sitting at the base of the most amazing mountains I’ve ever seen in my life, marveling at the fact that the clouds that had been hanging around for the preceding two weeks had disappeared as my colleagues and I rolled into town.

“Life is SO good,” I thought to myself. “I have the best job in the world!”

“I dunno; I kinda feel guilty,” one of my colleagues said about the trip after we polished off another pricey, hours-long, multi-course dinner in an upscale restaurant in Santiago. “Don’t,” I said, relishing the lemon sorbet palate cleanser that had been set before me. He looked at me dubiously.

“First of all,” I continued, “a press trip–as amazing as it is–actually is WORK. And don’t forget that. It’s not mucking port-a-potties or paper pushing, that’s for sure, but it IS work.”

I paused for another mouthful of lemon sorbet.

“You get up at 6 AM each morning, you’re on the road until midnight at least, and you need to be gathering article material all day long.” Pause. “Second,” I said, swirling the last bite of sorbet around on my spoon, “the sponsor really wants you here. And they expect something out of it. Don’t forget that either,” I concluded, as I laid the spoon down.

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What is a press trip?

As the name suggests, a press trip is a trip–usually two to seven days in length–that is sponsored by a tourism bureau, a hospitality industry provider, or an advertising agency and which is arranged specifically for writers and journalists. The goal of the trip is to inform writers about the destination and its attractions by giving them first-hand experience of a place. The sponsor or host of the trip typically expects that the writer will produce one or more feature-length articles about the destination in order to increase exposure and stimulate tourism in that area.

The nature of press trips varies considerably. Many press trip sponsors pay all expenses for the trip: roundtrip airfare to and from the destination, lodging, meals, activities, and gratuities. Other press trip hosts pay for all expenses except airfare. Clearly, the intention of the sponsor is to show the media who are on the trip the best facets of their country or city, and they will go out of their way to impress writers and journalists, putting them up in 5 star hotels, taking them to luxurious restaurants, and offering them activities that most writers would find impossible to enjoy on their meager salaries.

I know plenty of writers who are opposed to press trips. They feel that press trips are artificial. They argue that writers can’t possibly get an objective sense of a place–be it a restaurant or a hotel–if someone else is footing the gasp-inducing bill. They contend that hospitality providers are on their best behavior for press trip participants, and that writers are gently coerced to write favorable articles in return for the incredible free experiences they enjoy.

But having participated in several press trips, hosted by very different sponsors and in very different places, I have to say that those arguments are not only weak; they’re untenable.

First, if you’re a writer with integrity, you will write articles that convey your actual experiences, not some glowing, polished, barely concealed sales pitch that is at odds with what you saw and learned.

In Chile, we were toured around a resort that boasts the largest manmade pool in the world… right on the ocean (which, by the way, you couldn’t see). As we tooled around the pool on a motorized boat and stepped out onto an artificial beach, en route to an underwater bar with an exotic fish aquarium, I could barely conceal how appalled I was. In my mind, it was an environmental, social, and cultural monstrosity, and there’s no way I’ll write anything positive about it.

Second, if you’re a responsible writer, you won’t rely only on the programmed elements of the trip itself to provide you with information and insight into the destination. In fact, you’ll use the contacts you make (you ARE making contacts, right?) to gather more information on the ground than you ever could have gathered from afar. For example, while I was in Chile, I had questions about safety for travelers. I mentioned this to my sponsor, who was able to arrange an interview with the Sub-Secretary of the Interior of Chile. It was a contact I would have been unlikely to have made on my own, and the Sub-Secretary provided me with vital information and insight that will enhance some of the articles I write about the country.

Third, hospitality providers are rarely even aware that you are a writer or journalist being sported about the country, and even if they are, line staff rarely recognize the implications of treating you with the same surly attitude that characterizes their interaction with any other guest. The service at our all-inclusive resort in Torres del Paine was pretty atrocious, especially for the price, and there’s no way I could or would squeeze some glowing review out of my experience there. Even when your sponsors give hospitality providers a heads-up that their incoming guests are VIPs, it’s impossible for them to control hotel desk agent or waiter behavior. True colors will eventually shine through. If you’re an astute observer, you’ll see them and take note. But if you’re punch drunk on your third free cocktail, you’re not going to see them. That’s not the sponsor’s fault; it’s yours.

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Press trips give you first-hand experience and knowledge of a place. They give you the opportunity to meet people who can answer questions you’d otherwise be tempted to just Google. They give you, if YOU are responsible and resourceful, contacts that you can leverage over the course of your career.

Press trips also give you boundless opportunities to write about a destination based on your experiences. Those articles don’t need to be positive–and shouldn’t be– unless your experiences were positive. But the outcome of your experiences largely depends upon you. Are you a good listener? Do you ask questions that help you see the place for the complex, nuanced country that it is? Are you able to collect the stories that even your sponsors may not see, the human interest stories that really tell about the place you’re visiting? You owe it to the sponsor–and to yourself–to sit down at the end of the trip or within a specified timeframe afterwards, to talk about your experiences, the sponsor’s expectations, and the articles you expect to write and publish based on the trip.

Press trips don’t need to be sleazy. They’re only uncomfortable if you’re viewing the trip as an all-expenses paid vacation rather than part of your job. Keep your eyes and ears open, keep your cocktail consumption to a respectable minimum, and don’t check your critical sensibilities at immigration. Press trips can be incredible experiences for you and the sponsor. Both of you share the responsibility for making sure that’s the case.

After reading the articles in this series, you’ve become intrigued by the possibilities of boosting your blog with video. You’ve applied the tips we’ve shared–and those that readers far more experienced with video have offered (thanks, Craig!). You’ve produced some decent video you’d like to share with visitors to your blog…. now what?

The final steps in boosting your blog with video are publishing your video and promoting it once it has gone live. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Establish a YouTube account. If you don’t already have a YouTube account, now’s the perfect time for you to get one! YouTube, of course, is a massive online archive of videos, ranging from the terribly amateur to the compelling yet obscure. Signing up really is quick and easy.

YouTube isn’t the only online video library that’s free and yours for the using. Vimeo and GoogleVideo are two similar services. Each of the services offers its own advantages; the only major drawback of all three systems is that your uploaded video gets compressed considerably, affecting the quality of your final product.

Matador Travel’s video editor, Joshua Johnson, just tipped us off to a service that we haven’t checked yet but which seems to offer some serious promise: TubeMogul. TubeMogul is distinct from the other three services mentioned above because, as its website says:

TubeMogul is a free service that provides a single point for deploying uploads to the top video sharing sites, and powerful analytics on who, what, and how videos are being viewed.

In other words, if you have a TubeMogul account, you upload your video there and it gets distributed across YouTube, Vimeo, and more than a dozen other online video platforms. Sounds good to us.

Finally, if you are creating videos in a particular area of interest–travel, for instance–you may wish to do a Google search to see if there’s a specialized video platform that archives and broadcasts video for that subject. TripFilms is an excellent example, though there are many more. TripFilms happens to be especially interesting because regular video contributors may be able to get paid for their footage.

Regardless of the online video platform you select, be sure to name your account appropriately. If you have a blog you’re using to promote yourself as a writer, and if your blog (as it should) has a name, then your online video account should use the same name or something really similar. You’re creating a brand for yourself; be consistent.

2. Upload your video. Once you’ve decided which one(s) of these online video platforms you want to use, upload your video. This is a fairly straightforward process, and the instructions for doing so will be on the website you’ve selected. Typically, uploading video simply involves clicking “Upload,” noting the title, category, and keywords that describe your video, and selecting the video file from your hard drive that you want to upload. Upload time depends entirely upon the size of your file and the speed of your internet connection. Expect upload times of 5 minutes or less for smaller files; several hours for longer videos.

3. Don’t skimp on the details. Before you actually hit the upload button, stop for a second and review your entire submission. Does the name you’ve selected for the video match the title that’s actually on your video (if it has a title)? Do the key words or tags you’ve included reflect the content in the video? In your key words and tags, be sure to include common variations or anticipiated misspellings for words that might be typed in incorrectly during a search.

4. Promote your video. Once your video has been published, your online video platform will give you a string of HTML code that you cut and paste into a blog post in order to embed the video. Once you’ve pasted the code into your post, be sure to preview to make sure that your video appears and runs correctly. You may want to consider creating a new category for videos on your blog; that way, visitors can conduct a search for your video content quickly and easily.

5. Manage your promotional efforts. Your video is up on your blog. Now what?! You can use all the usual techniques you use to let people know about new blog posts: Twitter, Facebook, your e-mail status bar. You can send an e-mail to your contacts announcing that your blog is now video enhanced. You’ll also want to check into your online video account regularly to see if any viewers have left comments or ratings of your videos. Viewers who are doing a casual or targeted search on YouTube may access your video through that site, not through your blog, and their comments may go overlooked if you’re not checking in on your account on a periodic basis.

So go get publishing and promoting! And let us know where we can see your video.

Photo: Frederic-Michel Chevalier (Flickr creative commons)

You’ve got your gear. You’ve accumulated some decent footage. Now, what to do with it?

Before you sit down to start editing, spend some time watching films–short or long, it doesn’t matter–with a critical eye. Now that you’ve been behind the camera, you’re likely to see the finished product in an entirely new way. The intel you take away from a couple hours scoping films will help you understand what details to attend to in the editing process.

Did you watch some films? Really?

Ok, you’re ready for the next step: editing your own footage.

The editing software you use will depend, to some extent, on the equipment you have. For instance, the footage you capture with a Flip camera can simply be downloaded to your computer, imported into Windows Movie Maker (which is pre-installed on most Windows PCs and laptops these days), edited, and then saved and uploaded to YouTube or another online video archive. The Canon HG10, on the other hand, comes with an editing program and (so far) we haven’t figured out a way to use any other program to edit the footage.

Regardless of the gear you’re using, any decent editing program should be accompanied by a manual or installed help function that will guide you through the editing tools in your particular software package or program.

While we’ll deal with publishing and promoting your videos in the final article in this series, you need to know that many online archives, such as YouTube, upload videos in segments of 10 minutes or less. Keep this in mind with editing; two or three minute videos are optimal for uploading and sharing. Besides, most visitors to your blog–even the most dedicated and intelligent ones–have a limited attention span and aren’t likely to spend much more time than that… even if your video is compelling or funny. (vis: La Corraleja, where a man gets gored and stomped by a bull. Compelling? Yes. Engaging? Apparently not, as it produced the lowest average time on our blog ever!)

Another question should inform your entire editing (and filming) process: What is the purpose of adding video to your blog? Will video be an adjunct to narrative or will it be a stand-alone main feature? The answer to this question will determine how you edit, whether you need informative subtitles, and what kinds of audio and/or still photo material you’ll need to gather in order to tell the story. It helps to answer this question before you even start filming (which is why we mentioned developing a storyboard in the last article).

Once you actually start editing, import a few clips into the editing program and use them as a means of getting accustomed to the editing tools and process. Start out knowing that editing takes time… more time than it took you to conceptualize and capture your footage. Let’s say you’ve got 20 minutes or more of footage and your plan is to produce a 2 minute video. Budget several hours–especially as you’re just starting out–to generate that final piece.

After you’ve finished editing, watch the video a few times. Are your transitions between clips smooth? If you’ve used titles, subtitles, or credits, make sure every word is spelled correctly. Have you added your name, blog URL, or some other means of contact to the final frame? How is the sound quality? Any online archive to which you upload your video will compress your file, impacting the quality of your final product considerably, so be sure that the video you’ve produced is the best quality it can be given the capacities of your gear and your editing program.

Stay tuned… tomorrow we’ll publish the final article in this series: how to publish and promote your video.

In the meantime, if you’d like to see a visit a few blogs that incorporate video, we recommend:

Emonome: Check out our friend Emon’s Central Park drummer video, which is in the top right corner of his blog.

Ian MacKenzie: You may already know that Ian’s the editor of Brave New Traveler, but you might not be aware that he’s also a new media producer. You can find lots of videos on his site.

Film editor photo: Filmingilman (Flickr creative commons)
Clock photo: Frankfarm (Flickr creative commons)

Once you’ve got your gear, it’s time to start working with it. In this article, we’re going to talk about filming. The lessons we share here were learned through trial and error… lots and lots of error. We’re still learning every time we hit the “start” button!

1. Embrace the learning curve.

If you’re brand new to video, as we were, understand that the first few weeks or even months with your camera are best devoted to on-the-street experimentation. Even if you’ve read dozens of reviews about the gear you’ve bought, even if you’ve scoured the instruction manual cover to cover, the way in which you manage your camera and push it to its limits will be unique.

Don’t make the mistake that we did and film “important” footage during this learning and acclimation phase–important being footage you’re not likely to be able to capture again. Film birds, cars, people on the street. Just don’t film that interview it’s taken you months to arrange.

Otherwise, you’ll have loads of footage you can use to write an article like this one.

2. Do a sound check. Every single time.

Sounds simple enough, but the temptation to skip sound check is strong– let’s just get to filming!–especially when what you’re filming is a scene unfolding spontaneously before you.

But if you do that silly “testing, testing, 1, 2, 3″ (Yes, every time!), you’ll save yourself the disappointment of sitting down to review your footage, only to find out that what you’ve filmed is a silent movie.

3. Get stills and filler.

No one shoots a film–no matter the length–in a single fluid shot.

A finished video is the result of the movie equivalent of a cut and paste job. In addition to capturing your primary subject, be sure to film some still and filler footage you’ll be able to use for introductions, transitions, and credits.

4. Think about the big picture. Unless you’re sending footage to “Candid Camera,” think about the implications of the people you’re filming. In certain sensitive situations, such as my recent visit to the naval base and detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, you’ll want to get verbal confirmation that your subjects are willing to be filmed. In some cases, you may even want to request that your subjects sign a consent form, which indicates their willingness to be filmed and releases you from responsibility once the film goes live.

5. Develop a storyboard. If you’re setting out to film with a specific subject in mind, develop a rough storyboard that lays out the trajectory of the narrative you want to tell. This exercise is useful for helping you anticipate the kinds of shots you’ll want to get while filming.

There are many other variables to take into consideration when you’re filming– light, angle, and sound being just three of them–but you’ll develop your own sense of the importance of each and your style of managing them the more you handle your camera. The tips above will just get you started!

Curve photo: Extra Medium (Flickr creative commons)

Microphone photo: jschneid (Flickr creative commons)

Scissors photo: reebob (Flickr creative commons)

Earlier this week, a CollazoProjects reader wrote:

I’d like to put more video on my blog but I’m a complete beginner. What software should I use for editing videos, adding music & text etc? Also appreciate any other resources you could point me towards to get started.

Heather’s question is a good one, and it requires such a detailed answer, we decided to write an article–or four– in response!

This is the first article in a series of four articles that offer you a crash course in boosting your blog with video. In this article, we talk about the gear you need to get started.

The second installment will share filming tips; the third will explain the intricacies of editing; and the final article will teach you how to upload, publish, and promote your videos.

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Boosting Your Blog With Video: GEARING UP!

If you want to add video to your blog, you’ll need a video camera.

Wait- I know what you’re thinking: “Forget that I asked! I can’t afford a video camera!”

Don’t stop reading, though.

While there are top of the line professional video cameras that could drain your bank account in one fell swoop, there are also a couple of lower end cameras that will fit into almost any budget. My personal favorite is the Flip Camera, a lightweight, pocket-sized video camera with the capacity to film and store up to 60 minutes of footage at a time. At just $153.00, this video camera is cheaper than most digital cameras and will let you produce some fantastic footage for your blog.

The Flip has some serious limitations, but if you’re aware of them from the beginning, you’ll be able to leverage the camera’s strengths to capture quality video. The Flip works best when you’re in a situation where you can shoot close up. There’s a zoom function, but it doesn’t permit slow and steady user control; furthermore, the microphone is small and won’t capture sound that’s far from the camera itself.

Watch our videos “The Happiest Woman in Guantanamo” and “Alpura Milk Dancers” to get an idea about the kinds of subjects and settings where filming with the Flip works best.

The Flip is super easy to use with respect to downloading and editing. The camera has a USB device that plugs directly into your computer and allows direct downloading. The software comes with the camera and installs quickly. Once you’ve got your video footage on your computer, you can use Windows Movie Maker to edit your clips and produce a finished piece.

If you’re serious about developing quality video and have the budget for a bigger camera, we recommend the Canon HG10. This is a high definition video camera that’s a notch above the home video camera and a few notches below a professional video camera.

This camera has far more flexibility and capability than the Flip, but if you’re going to invest in a camera of this type, be prepared to buy a couple of non-negotiable accessories.

A tripod is a must– we’ve got hours of shaky footage that’s unusable because we shot without a tripod. You can purchase a very decent Canon tripod that comes with its own bag for about $40.

Another accessory you’ll need is an external microphone. While video cameras all come with built in microphones, you’ll be hard pressed to capture audible sound without an external microphone (also called a shotgun mike). We use an AZDEN camcorder microphone. Two notes about this microphone: 1. You’ll need batteries (and will ALWAYS want to do a sound check before you start filming to make sure your battery hasn’t died) and 2. You should always check to make sure your microphone is on before filming.

Our next accessory purchase will be a lavalier microphone, which ranges between $20.00 and $700.00. A lavalier microphone clips onto your subject’s shirt and permits you to capture the very best sound, close to the source.

The Canon HG10 comes with a software CD that provides you with the Corel Ulead editing system. It’s not the most intuitive editing system I’ve ever used, but the quality of video is certainly superior to that of the Flip. Check out our “House of Memories” video to see if you can discern the difference between the Flip footage and the Canon footage. (And you’ll see why we advise you to buy a tripod!)

Finally, once you’ve got all your gear, you’ll need a bag to put it in. There are fancy hard shell cases with interior padding that will keep your gear protected, but these tend to be expensive and are heavy to carry. We use a Baggallini padded valise.

If you buy any of your gear at a store, the salesperson will try to encourage you to buy lots of other gear, but these are the basics. You’ll be just fine if you start with these items and start testing them out. Over time, once you’ve decided what kinds of videos you want to make and why, you’ll develop a better understanding of the accessories you’ll want to buy to enhance your video production.

Movie man photo: Simon Pais-Thomas (Flickr creative commons)

Gear photo: lucianvenutian (Flickr creative commons)

Flip camera photo: rmphotog (Flickr creative commons)

I’m in the midst of working on a few book reviews– Daina Chaviano’s The Island of Eternal Love,
David Lida’s First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century, Kiss the Hand You Cannot Sever by Adrienne Brady, and Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer by popular travel writer, Rolf Potts– so I’ve got book reviews on my mind.

In an earlier article, I explained how you can request review copies. In this article, I explain how one writes a book review, focusing primarily on identifying the criteria you should take into consideration while reading the book you’ll be reviewing.

As with any genre, the more you read book reviews, the better you’re likely to become at writing reviews.

One of my secret pleasures is reading New York Times Book Review each Sunday. The reviewers–writers themselves, and likely just as sensitive as their subjects– are never ambivalent: they lavish praise or heap criticism on authors in full page meditations… and I must admit that I’ve kept this particular pleasure secret until now because I find the critical reviews especially appealing.

Why?

Well, because a good review is, like any good writing, cognizant of what words mean, how they should be treated, and what we, as readers, should expect of them, how we should feel after we take them in and turn them over like a prism in the light. When a book possesses shortcomings, book reviewers call authors on the gaps in their work and demand that they do better. I like reading the reviews because I’d like to think they make me a better writer and editor…and a better book reviewer.

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Reading a book in order to write a review requires a bit more attention and purpose than you’d devote as a casual reader. When reading in order to review you want to take the following ideas into account:

-What is the subject of the book? And in answering that question, you need to ask another: What has already been written about the same subject? How will this author expand the reader’s understanding of the subject (if it’s been written about extensively before)? Does the author offer new insights or an innovative articulation of an already well-treated subject?

-What is the author’s background? What makes the author uniquely qualified to write about the subject? What has the author written before? The answers to these questions vary in their relative importance depending on the genre, but are worth asking when approaching any book.

You don’t necessarily need to share the author’s background with the reader of your review. Sometimes, though, doing so is particularly appropriate. Consider, for example, David Kamp’s introduction to his review of Jules Feiffer’s Explainers, published last weekend in the Times:

“At this point, there’s an entire generation of parents and kids who know Jules Feiffer solely as a children’s book author…. It’s been eight years since he stopped doing his weekly syndicated comic strip for grown ups….”

All this information sets the reader up for a comparison of Feiffer’s new book, an anthology of 10 years worth of his work, to his existing body of work, providing the reader with useful information.

-What does the author establish as the thesis (for non-fiction) or the narrative hook (for fiction)? And then, does the author fulfill the promise implied by that thesis or hook?

As the reviewer, you may wish to even lead into the review with your own summation of the narrative hook…without spoiling the plot and its resolution, of course! Take for instance, Andrew Miller’s review of Jose Saramago’s novel, Blindness:

“Traffic at a red light. The lights change, the cars move off, all except one that remains blocking the middle lane. A man inside is shouting the same three words again and again: ‘I am blind.’ Distraught, he is accompanied to his home by a kindly stranger. But this good Samaritan is also a car thief. Having taken the blind man home, he steals his car. A short time later he too is blind.”

While Miller could have opened his review by saying, “Saramago’s novel is about a whole town that goes blind, save one person,” this opening is far more engaging and interesting.

Finally, you’ll need to consider:

-How well does the author write? Authors with a particularly unique narrative style might deserve special mention. I like Jennifer Egan’s description of Jim Harrison’s writing in her recent review of Harrison’s novel, The English Major:

“Jim Harrison’s writing is oddly mysterious. His prose style is plain, even flat. His sentences unspool casually, and are often comma-free to the point of sounding almost hapless.”

The reader of Egan’s review is preparing for a withering commentary about Harrison’s novel.

And then, she makes an abrupt turn:

“Yet they fuse on the page with a power and a blunt beauty whose mechanics are difficult to trace even when you look closely.”

Egan goes on to call Harrison’s writing style a “straw-to-gold technique” that characterizes his work. Egan isn’t just sharing her opinion about Harrison’s writing; she’s helping the reader of her review to approach Harrison’s style and access it in a new way.

Miller’s review of Saramago’s novel is similarly adept at preparing the reader for Saramago’s inimitable style–one which is often frustrating to readers new to the Portuguese writer’s work. Miller wrote:

“The prose, with its minimal punctuation, its flickering of tense and subject so that we glide between first and third person, between stream of consciousness and wry objectivity… takes a page or two for the reader to settle into…; the denseness of the long polyphonic paragraphs appears slightly daunting at the first encounter. Soon, however, we are caught up by the sheer momentum of the narrative. The unencumbered language hurries us forward at such a pace it is difficult to do justice to the subtlety and occasional beauty of its architecture, as if we were driving headlong through a great city at night.”

Miller’s review is almost as lyrical as Saramago’s novel, and if I hadn’t read it already, I’d be headed off to the library to check it out.

Does the book review ultimately reflect the reviewer’s own literary preferences and prejudices? Of course. But by paying attention to these basic criteria, you have a point of departure for your reviews, and a set of standards to which your readers can hold you, just as you have done with the author whose work you’re reviewing.

Now get reading!

Photo: swiv (Flickr creative commons)

If you’re a writer intending to publish your work, you will eventually need to develop research skills. Even the most beautiful, deft narrative pieces occasionally require the information and insight that only research can provide.

The Internet has made research easier than ever, providing information that’s no farther away than a keystroke or click of the mouse. But as an editor of two very different types of writing–academic and travel-related–I can confirm that the Internet also raises some serious concerns about its use for research purposes, regardless of the genre.

The concerns can be sorted into two main categories. First, there’s the problem of accuracy and reliability. Where are you getting your information? Where did your source get its information? How dated is the information, and is it possible for you to corroborate your findings? Are you checking multiple sources? And if so, how are you reconciling divergent facts? For instance, while working on an article about Juan Antonio Picasso last week, Francisco wanted to verify the date when Pablo Picasso’s grandfather arrived in Cuba. One source indicated 1846. Another reported the date as 1848. Still another gave a different year. Which source was right?

Second is the issue of legitimacy. What makes an Internet site legitimate? Wikipedia has become wildly popular as a source of information for writers in a variety of genres. While the site can provide a quick overview that gives you background information about a topic, Wikipedia is not a legitimate source. First, the pages are written by people you can’t identify and whose credentials are not substantiated. Second, the “sources” cited in Wikipedia articles are not always legitimate themselves. There’s primary research information and secondary research information. And then there’s tertiary research… and Wikipedia falls into that category.

So where and how does a writer begin to research a subject?

The answers to this question will depend upon the subject of your piece, the publication in which you’re aiming to place it, and your intended audience. The general tips and resources I provide here, though, are useful for many writing projects and should be added to your mental or electronic library.

-The Library of Congress: The bricks-and-mortar library has long been a place where academic researchers have ensconced themselves amongst stacks of books, documents, photographs, and other archival material. But you don’t need to visit Washington, D.C. to take advantage of the vast, impressive collection of the Library of Congress. An incredible amount of the LoC’s holdings have been digitized and are available–for free–online. You can even set up your own personalized virtual archive here.

If you’re doing historical research, American or otherwise, the LoC’s website is an excellent starting place for accessing primary source material.

-Questia: Questia is a virtual library with an extensive collection of full-text scholarly texts, journal articles, and magazine and newspaper articles on thousands of subjects, including history, business, social science, politics, and much more. All of the material is in English. While the service isn’t free–it’s membership based–writers who need to conduct research regularly will find Questia worthwhile.

-New York Public Library Database: The NYPL has 94 databases you can search from home… if you have a library card. If you don’t, reach out to an NYC friend and see if they might help you out. Database subjects range from the broad and comprehensive EBSCOhost (full-text journal and newspaper articles) to more subject-specific collections, including African American History, American Indian History, and the AP Multimedia Archive. There’s a database of 150 Chinese language journals and at least three Spanish language databases.

-Google Books: What Google lacks in design appeal, it more than makes up for in functionality and utility. When researching, don’t just Google; check Google Books, which offers both full-text and limited preview editions of popular and scholarly texts.

-Twitter and Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forums: Looking for information or opinions about a place from people who know it well? Travel writers, in particular, are using Twitter and other online forums and social networks, to survey other users, to line up interviews, or to search for contacts and information. These online communities can definitely expand the reach of your research.

What resources do you use when conducting research? Share your tips below!

Photo: andercismo
(Flickr creative commons)

As a writer, editor, and translator, I spend my days (and nights) surrounded by words.

I’m lucky: I love what I do and I’m regularly reminded why I love writing and why I think it’s important. Just today, for instance, I received a submission for Matador Travel from a writer whose opening lines read: “As the rooster announces the arrival of morning, Grandmaster Dai Kang’s slippers hit the concrete. It is 4am.”

It’s a perfect opening: the details are plentiful, yet the phrasing is tight. There’s an economy of language that confirms the writer’s skillfulness while successfully putting the reader in a specific place and time. The writer also introduces a character and provides just enough intrigue to engage the reader.

I knew the piece “worked”, but I sent it to a couple of other editors for their input. “Amazing,” one e-mailed. “I actually read it twice.” Another editor responded, “Fantastic.” Everything about the piece was well-crafted, and we look forward to publishing the piece so that other readers can enjoy it as much as we did.

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For every moving, entertaining, or informative piece I read, though, there are many that fail to impress, that fall flat and leave me wondering what can be salvaged and reworked. As an editor, I view my job as including the tasks of determining whether the piece is thematically and stylistically consistent with the format, vision, and interests of the publication for which it has been submitted; asking the question: Will this be meaningful to a large readership?; and nurturing the writer’s own voice and style while making sure the piece meets the preceding two criteria.

It’s not always an easy task, or a fun one–many writers are notoriously sensitive to criticism and rejection. But it’s through my own experiences as a writer that I’ve come to understand my work as an editor. It’s in that spirit, then, that I offer the following observations and tips for writers who are hoping to be published:

1. Trim the fat. I once heard a writer refer to revising and editing as “killing my babies.” As someone who writes long, Saramago-esque sentences myself, the metaphor resonated with me… it can be painful to cut the words we’ve worked so hard to birth onto the page. It’s true that some stories and subjects warrant 3,000 words. Many, however, do not. And in either case, even the most devoted, enthusiastic reader has a limited attention span.

When I say “trim the fat,” I don’t mean that you should force your piece into a word count (unless the publication requires that). Don’t kill rich details. Don’t omit a crucial character. But read through your piece before submitting it and ask yourself: Is every word absolutely necessary? Does every word advance the narrative? If the answer is yes, keep it. If the answer is no, start trimming.

2. Read with a critical eye. So how do you separate the lean from the fat? Simple. Get rid of filler words. So many words we use in everyday speech are unnecessarily imported into our writing: this, that, these, those, them, there are, there is, it, and etc. are just a few examples. Take a sentence with filler words and look at it critically: what can be eliminated without sacrificing detail? Try this tip consistently. I promise you’ll be surprised by how many words are simply unnecessary.

3. Write with precision…and passion. I recently landed a contract to write a guide to Mexico City for an online travel planning company. I was given a style guide to follow; though it was strict, it was not constraining. I was confident about my subject–I know my second home well–and I completed the guide with passion. I was satisfied with what I’d written and sent it off to the editor, sure it would be accepted immediately with praise and no requests for revisions.

I was wrong. “I just have a few revision requests,” the editor wrote. When I opened the document, I could see red marks all over my draft, the editor’s frustrated notes electronically penned into the margins. “WHY IS THIS PLACE GREAT?!!” she wrote with evident exasperation. “WHY IS THIS RESTAURANT ‘CELEBRATED’?!” I could almost see her, sighing and rolling her eyes, and I felt chastised by her feedback.

As I sat with the draft and reviewed it with fresh eyes and an open mind, I realized she was absolutely right. Words like “good,” “great,” “must-see,” and “celebrated” have no meaning for a reader who has never been to Mexico City. I knew the places I’d included in the guide were good, great, celebrated must-sees, but I hadn’t taken the reader there. I had to be more precise. The second draft–and the final product–were better because the editor pushed me to get rid of vague adjectives, forcing me to be precise.

So here’s the tip: Avoid “good,” “great,” and all other vague adjectives that mean nothing. Remember the 5 “Ws” of writing: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. WHY is the place great? Pushing yourself to be precise won’t just benefit the reader; you’ll become a better writer and you’ll fall in love with your subject all over again as you struggle (and succeed!) to articulate precisely why it’s so important to you.

If you find precision challenging, ask a trusted friend to read your draft. Can he or she understand the place or experience you want to convey? If not, what would the reader like to know that’s currently missing?

4. Be yourself. Recently, I had the painful experience of working with a writer who was simply trying too hard to channel her voice to fit the vibe of our publication. I could sense the talent underneath her words, but so much of her writing felt stilted. Something simply didn’t ring true, though it was difficult to express this to her.

Writers are constantly trying to fit their resumes and themselves into the varied visions and expectations of editors and the publications they represent. Don’t. Be yourself and always channel your authentic voice. When you force your writing to be something it’s not, the reader can sense the inauthenticity. And besides, you’ll be left with the yucky feeling of defeat and compromise. If the piece doesn’t fit, don’t force it. You’ll find your place. In the meantime, keep writing.

What tips do YOU have about improving as a writer? Please share your comments and experiences below!

Photo: thorinside (Flickr creative commons)

I did a quick Google search and confirmed my sneaking suspicion: Good spelling is no longer important in America.

Enter ‘”why good spelling is important” and you’ll see what I mean. Four entries are retrieved, and not a single one of them is truly a defense of good spelling.

Maybe it’s the fact that I won the spelling bee in elementary school–triumphantly taking home my very own hardback copy of a red fabric-bound Webster’s Dictionary– but I really do still believe that good spelling is important. I find people like Jeff Deck and his Typo Eradication Advancement League to be nothing short of heroic.

I know. I’m nerdy.

As I’ve been thinking about why good spelling is important, none of the predictable, conventional explanations seem too relevant anymore. One doesn’t necessarily need to spell well to communicate his or her message. In fact, the sad fact seems to be that few people notice or care when a word is spelled incorrectly. Increasingly, no one buys the argument that good spelling reflects anything important about one’s intelligence, and few people accept the idea that good spelling indicates, at the very least, that the writer isn’t lazy and can at least run a document through spell check.

But here’s why I think good spelling is important. Good spelling affirms that you respect yourself, your reader, and your subject. Spelling well shows that you’ve taken the time to review your document, that you want to present your ideas in the clearest manner possible, and that you care about the reader’s standards (even if they’re low).

Above all, spelling well shows your respect for the power of language, its power to name and describe and explain. No, the world won’t fall apart (hell, it might not even notice) when you write “it’s” when you really mean “its,” but trust me, the world does become a little bit clearer when your spelling is as powerful and as precise as the message you want to convey.

For a few quick guides to common spelling errors–and how to avoid them–click here, here, and here.

Photo: dawn m. arfield (creative commons)