✍️ Diary of an Author: How to Write a Travel Memoir
Why this genre is my favorite, and still captures readers to this day.
Happy Sunday! In today’s newsletter, you’ll learn about…
✍️ The staying power of the travel memoir
☕️ How to write your travel memoir
😎 Lessons to be learned from one of the top travel memoirs
📖 3-Minute Story: How to Write Your Travel Memoir
As a freelance memoir ghostwriter, I’ve written many different types of memoirs: coming-of-age, true crime, business book/memoir hybrids — and travel memoirs.
Because I spend the majority of my year traveling as a digital nomad (you can read about my travels here on my blog!), I have a soft spot for the travel memoir.
This week on my blog, I wrote about how Eat Pray Love is a classic travel memoir, and what lessons we can learn from this genre-defining book.
Love it or hate it, this seminal story of finding-yourself-through-travel inspired solo female travelers to hit the road — something that was more uncommon in the early 2000s than it is now.
Travel has transformed my life: it’s given me confidence, introduced me to some of my new favorite people, and taught me about different cultures and perspectives.
If you’re an avid traveler, here are 3 tips for writing your travel memoir:
Understand what type of travel memoir you’re writing. Travel memoirs can be a hybrid of a few different genres. I’ve ghostwritten true crime books that also doubled as travel memoirs. You’d also be surprised how business advice can pair well with travel, especially if you work remotely or travel is involved in your business.
Use all of your senses to describe a place. When you’re traveling, be sure to write down how places look, feel, smell, taste, and sound. Understand what emotions come up as you’re moving through different parts of new places, and seek out contrast in your descriptions. Use metaphor and personification to get creative with how you show how a place impacts you — I cover more about this in my Eat Pray Love blog post!
Clearly show how travel transforms you as a person during your book. The big question readers want to know about your travels is “why?” Why are they significant? Why did you choose to write about them? Why you? Why now? Why these places? A travel memoir should turn its settings into characters. You’re not just building a sense of place: you’re showing how a place teaches and challenges you.
Travel memoirs capture the imagination of adventurers and armchair explorers alike. We want to know what’s out there — and what others find in the world.
If you have a travel story, I encourage you to tell it. You’d be surprised whose lives you change by sharing your stories.
You can start small: write about a trip in a blog post at first, and maybe over time build those stories one at a time into a full book.
And, of course, if you need some help you can always reach out to me.
I help authors with all elements of putting together a memoir and offer memoir ghostwriting, book editing, and publishing services:
✨ 2 Quotes to Inspire You
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
✍️ 1 Journal Prompt
When was the last time you took a trip? What did you learn about yourself on that trip? What did you learn about the place you visited? What happened during the trip that was unexpected? What
Feel free to share your reflections with other Modern Authors in the comments:
💻 New Blog Posts on AmySuto.com
🎙 New Diary of an Author Podcast Episodes
#42 How to Work with a Writing Partner (and not murder each other!) (6 min)
#41 Good Books: Being Gritty, Successful, and Working Smart for Writers (3 min)
#40 Three Tips for Getting Organized and Motivated after a Setback (4 min)
📸 Photo of the Week: Hello from Chelsea, Manhattan 👋
The soft summer breeze scatters leaves. Down the street, I hear the echoes of SAG actors chanting, striking outside of Spectrum. We pass silent protestors sitting outside Blackrock with signs pleading an end to fossil fuel investment.
Manhattan is a lot of things, but it’s never boring.
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⚡️ Upcoming Wednesday Edition: 6 Creative Ways Authors Can Monetize Their Work
This Wednesday, Diary of an Author subscribers will get an exclusive issue about…
✨ 6 creative and inspiring ways authors and writers can monetize their work
🧪 How to build a sustainable life as a full-time working writer
📚 Ways to avoid “selling out” and instead bet on yourself
Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,
-Amy