Travel writing links roundup

If you’re planning to write about your summer travels this year, take a break from prowling for flight sales and hotel deals and check out a few of these travel writing posts we've run across recently:

• From the travel site Matador, here’s a post with 22 tips on how to become a travel writer… it's a great list, and most of it is relevant to writers of all kinds.

• Here's a fascinating interview with prominent travel writer Paul Theroux about his latest -- and possibly last -- trip to Africa.

• Should travel writers accept freebies? This post from the BBC takes a look at some of the ethical issues surrounding the travel writing industry and outlines the policies of a few of the major travel publishers.

• Edmonton writer Omar Mouallem debunked a few popular misconceptions about the travel writing genre in this post last week. The best tip: you don't actually have to leave home to start pitching travel stories.

• B.C. food and travel writer -- and writing instructor -- Don Genova sent us this link to an article with twenty ways to make your travel writing sing. Hints: find a fresh angle, develop an interesting narrative and find a specialty. And don't just gloss over the unpleasant details -- realism is what sets proper travel writing apart from PR.