Travel Writing 101 with Ed Grenby

As a lifestyle journalism student, these workshops with professionals are a gateway to industry insight

One year into working at an Indian fashion magazine I realised my “life-long” dream of working in fashion was short sighted; in reality what I yearned for is creating lifestyle and culture content. So in December 2020, I began looking for master’s courses and landed upon LCC’s MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism programme. Five months and two terms in, I can confirm it was the right decision for my personal and professional growth. At the risk of sounding like a gushing schoolgirl, not only are our professors talented academics but they are also encouraging mentors, constantly pushing us to build a portfolio and network through guest lectures and workshops. Case in point: a recent travel writing workshop with Ed Grenby, the former editor of Sunday Times Travel magazine and present head of content and strategy at Family Traveller.

While being an award winning travel writer–with over 15 years of editorial experience–Ed is also a captivating professor; a two and a half hour workshop was over before we knew it. Instead of a unilateral lecture, Ed split the workshop into five segments, each accompanied by a writing exercise and subsequent discussion. In the section on ‘generating ideas’ for travel writing he explained that a place is not nearly as important as the angle of the story.

“Going to New York City for the weekend is not a story, but going to NYC for the weekend and surviving under 200 quid is,” he says.

The second segment, and some would argue the most important one, explored pitching the story to the right person at the right publication. From highlighting the significance of a succinct email to revealing how many reminder emails are too many (over 4) and then informing the publication about taking the idea elsewhere in a polite manner–these were all tricks of the trade that only a professional could share. The next few segments served equally helpful: writing a good first sentence, structuring the story, avoiding clichés and making the reader experience the journey instead of passively observing it.

“Avoid empty qualifiers like beautiful or nice, for example instead of calling a sardine delicious say it felt like a jazz concert in your mouth,” says Ed, adding that travel is about all five senses and the piece should reflect that.

In the last section of the workshop, the travel writer explained the financial realities of the role: how much money to expect, how to diversify, how to mine stories from past travels and where to start as young writers. Yet the highlight of the workshop was a surprise: each of us can get a piece of writing reviewed by Ed in one-on-one sessions. I am trying hard not to use an “empty qualifier” to describe this opportunity but it truly is quite amazing or as Ed would appreciate–it’s like getting an upgrade to first class when you paid for discounted economy tickets.