blog writing

Submitted: Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 11:19

ThreadID: 97267 Views:1640 Replies:5 FollowUps:3

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katz78

Hi fellow travellers this may sound like a really silly question but I have been inspired by the blogs I have read on here to start my own stories of travel and what I wanted to know is how you go about starting a travel journal or writing blogs and I want to get my kids doing it as well so any tips would be great.

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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 12:23

Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 12:23

Hi Katz,

Not a silly question. You have to be a paid up member of this site before you can put any blogs up. After that its about as easy as writing a post for the forum, plus you can add photos and links. Have a look at this thread by clicking here for some more insight into blog writing.

Also if a word here is underlined that means you can click on it for more info.

Cheers,

Val

J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein

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AnswerID: 492277

Follow Up By: katz78 - Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 07:48

Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 07:48

Hi J and V
The thread u sent for me to look at comes up blank and thanks for the advice I really get my kids involved with this too.

FollowupID: 768007

Reply By: RodnSue - Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 12:35

Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 12:35

Hi katz78

(John & Val posted whilst I was writing this, so I've edited out some of what I wrote before posting)

You start with the experience, some photos (many if you’re like me) & the words with flow.
Many of us ask questions to get more ideas, that's the beauty of forums like this 1.

I don’t know the technical details on writing a blog on this forum as I’m not a financial member, hopefully other members here will help you that 1.

I used blogspot.com to write about our travels in 2011. It’s a free site, so too is Wordpress I believe. There may be other sites to write a blog, but I don’t know them.

The down side of Blogspot is that the photos unfortunately can be copied by any one, I’m not too sure whether the same applies to photos on Exploroz.

I wrote my blog soon after experiencing it so that the memory is fresh. I just kept the local area brochures (for reference) until the blog was written. I wrote a brief diary, but there’s more in my blog, but it was more about where we went & not what we “had for breakfast”, if you get my drift.

There was no limit in how many photos I uploaded into my blog, so I used hundreds of them to show case our experience.

I hope this may help you & happy blogging
Cheers
Sue

www.ournomadicways.blogspot.com

AnswerID: 492279

Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 13:10

Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 13:10

Great response Sue, and good advice for novice bloggers.

I suspect that photos can be copied from this site too, but with so many images floating around in cyberspace I'm not too worried, if by some remote chance one of mine is used somewhere - I doubt that any of ours are of commercial quality anyway!

I always keep a handwritten diary while we are on the road, we take lots (thousands) of photos and have our Oziexplorer track to remind us where we have been. We also gather up tourist brochures etc.

We have tried different ways of writing a travel blog. Initially we used to write while on the road, but found that they were rushed and didn't have much going for them other than immediacy. They also have the disadvantage of advertising the fact that you are away from home which is not always a good idea.

Now we write our blogs up after we get home. The thing that I like about writing a blog that way is that I have more time to think about what I write. It is a great way to recall the trip, as you end up going through the photos, tracks, brochures etc - and even doing some googling which may reveal things that you missed. Also I can choose the best photos to include.

Like you I do try to avoid the mundane things unless there is a good reason to do so. Also (because I despair about poor spelling, grammar, punctuation etc) I do make an effort to get it right, and in turn I enjoy reading a blog that has been well written. I always write in Word then copy and paste into the blog format.

The best way to write anything is to make a start, ask for and accept feedback (and constructive criticism) and practice, practice practice!

Cheers,

Val

J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein

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FollowupID: 767947

Reply By: The Landy - Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 20:52

Sunday, Aug 05, 2012 at 20:52

When writing, I often find that if you imagine someone is sitting wth you and you are telling them the story... Just type away, do a draft, and come back to refine later.

And it doesn't need to be a travel journal. Maybe pick someonthing that happened of interest, and write about that....

But whatever you do, just start writing!!

Look forward to reading of your travels..Cheers, The Landy

AnswerID: 492329

Follow Up By: katz78 - Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 07:50

Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 07:50

Thanks Landy
Thanks for the tips and am so excited to start my stories and I want my kids to get involved so they can share their stories with friends and classmates.

FollowupID: 768008

Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 08:35

Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 08:35

Katz,

When it was suggested I write a blog, put it off for some weeks while I thought about it, and how best to it. Didn't want to "start" on EO, so then decided to do as Val does, and do it in Word first. Then just copy & paste into the blog section.

Then I despaired for another week or so, while I wondered if the font I used in Word, would be the wrong one for EO. In the end, got a coffee, sat down and put my thoughts "onto paper", so to speak. With all the proof reading I did, I've still noticed the odd error, that will have to fix later.

Also got whatever photos I wanted into a group, so it was easy to source from one folder, rather than from a very full My Pictures file.

Bob.

Seen it all, Done it all.
Can't remember most of it.

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AnswerID: 492353

Reply By: Member - Min (NSW) - Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 16:36

Monday, Aug 06, 2012 at 16:36

Hi Katz,

Lots of good advice above, the best of which is to start writing!

I do mine each evening but I am also going to start taking brief notes during the day to 'capture the moment' of special times. I find it useful to have the date and place we stayed each night as a subheading as it makes it very easy to pick up when I'm re-reading the blog when planning for a future trip to the same region.

It is a wonderful idea to get your kids writing too, not just for their friends but way into the future their children and grandchildren will gain some insight into just who their parent/grandparent was as a youngster and what their life was like.

Ready, set, go!

Min