If you test positive for Covid – Don’t come to class until you test negative. But let your teacher know and we’ll work to give you access to your missed classes via Zoom.
If you show Covid symptoms OR If you have been exposed to someone with Covid – Don’t come to class for at least 5 days after showing symptoms or exposure, and then take a test to confirm that you are negative. Let your teacher know and we’ll work to give you access to your missed classes via Zoom.
If you have any questions about this, you may call (212-974-8377) or email us ([email protected]).
Travel Writing
GUIDE TO NONFICTION COURSES
Nonfiction Pathways
Foundation
If you’re not sure what kind of nonfiction to write...
If you know what kind of nonfiction to write...
Memoir I
Essay & Opinion Writing
Feature Article Writing
Blog & Newsletter Writing
Travel Writing
Food Writing
Or...
If you want a rather short course...
Memoir Intensive
Flash Fiction & Nonfiction
Personal Essay Writing
Feature Article Writing Intensive
Humor Writing Intensive
Blog & Newsletter Writing Intensive
Next Steps
After completing a Level I ten-week course...
After completing Memoir II, if you want to write a book...
Selling Your Work
If you hope to get published somewhere...
Also Helpful
These essential courses are great for writers of any level.
Travel Writing is a 10-week workshop, which includes lectures, exercises, and the critiquing of student projects. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
Travel writing lets us traverse the world on page or screen, journeying everywhere from the cobblestone streets of Amsterdam to the brilliant-white beaches of Zanzibar. Reading about travel can provide the inspiration and information to set us in motion, or it can transport foreign locales right into our homes. Spin the globe to anyplace you like.
Travel writing requires you to pack a sense of adventure, a journalist’s eye, and a storyteller’s flair. Here you will learn about the full spectrum of travel writing—articles, memoir, essay, blogs, guidebooks—as well as writing craft and how to market your work.
Whether you seek to write about places near or far, we’ll show you how to turn the world into words.
The instructor provided an invaluable insider's point of view…. This Gotham class allowed me to take part in dialogues with people from Croatia to Washington State, on topics from an encounter with Mother Theresa to peddling a pedicab in California. I loved the disparate points of view and the extravagant variety of travel experiences that were shared online!
Teri Albert
writer
Notes
Gotham only offers Travel Writing at Level I. After that, if you want to continue working on travel pieces, you have these options:
Memoir I or Memoir II – for travel-related memoirs
Essay & Opinion I – for travel-related essays and reviews
Feature Article – for travel-related articles
Upcoming Classes
NYC COVID Info
10-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $439 (returning students: $409)
-
One-on-One
Tuition: $1,895
Syllabus
This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of travel writing gets you writing a short piece (or two) or a book. Course components:
Lectures
Writing exercises
Workshopping of student projects (each student presenting work two times)
New York City/Zoom classes
The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher, term to term. Many topics will be similar to those covered in the Online classes.
Online classes
Week 1
Introduction to Travel Writing: The reality of travel writing. Types of travel writing. Which type and place for your own work? Angles.
Week 2
Destination Articles: Exploring destination articles. Structure—lead, nut graph, body, kicker. Moving parts—sense of place, people, facts, opinion, hed/dek. Outlines. Variables—point of view, length.
Week 3
Travel Memoir & Essay: Exploring travel memoirs. Aspect. Story—structure, theme. Scene and reflection. People and place. Exploring travel essays. Moving parts—viewpoint and personal experience, structure. Blurred boundaries in literary travel writing.
Week 4
Roundups & Guidebooks: Exploring roundups. Types of roundups. Writing a roundup. Writing tight. Exploring guidebooks. Guide to guidebooks. Writing guidebooks.
Week 5
Description/Voice: Description techniques—sensory, specificity, creativity, clichés, modifiers. An eye for details. What is voice? Personal voice. Publication voice. Finding your voice.
Week 6
Blogs/Photography: Types of travel blogs. Blog content. Reasons to blog (including making money). Setting up a blog. Building an audience. Photography advice.
Week 7
Travel News: Hard news. Feature articles. Advice articles. The seven “news values.”
Week 8
Travel Planning & Research: How to plan travel to find stories. Research. Resources. Traveling cheap or free. PR and ethics.
Week 9
Pitching: Selling books. Selling short pieces. The publication landscape. Homing in. Query letters. Sending out/hearing back.
Week 10
The Travel Writing Pro: Working with an editor. Building a career—money, relationships, self-promotion. Your view of the world.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Andrew Collins
Andrew Collins contributes to various guidebooks (including Mexico City, Pacific Northwest, New England, Utah, and National Parks) for Fodor's Travel, and he’s the author of Ultimate Road Trips USA & Canada (Hardie Grant). He’s the editor of the official visitor guides of Washington State, Seattle, and Asheville, and he's a regular contributor to The Points Guy and Yankee Magazine. He holds a BA from Wesleyan University.
Read moreAndrew Collins
Andrew Collins
contributes to various guidebooks (including Mexico City, Pacific Northwest, New England, Utah, and National Parks) for Fodor's Travel, and he’s the author of Ultimate Road Trips USA & Canada (Hardie Grant). He’s the editor of the official visitor guides of Washington State, Seattle, and Asheville, and he's a regular contributor to The Points Guy and Yankee Magazine. He holds a BA from Wesleyan University.
Related Courses
Food Writing
Tour the spectrum of food writing— reviews, memoir, essay, articles, blogs, and books.
Memoir Writing I
True stories about aspects of the writer’s life, whether essay or book-length.
Feature Article Writing
Feature articles are the story-driven side of journalism, covering topics earth-shaking or simply interesting.