Pico Iyer: Breaking The Rules Of Travel Writing

One of the most respected and unconventional writers in the travel-industry -- Pico Iyer -- has just published his 9 Commandments of Travel Writing on Condé Nast Traveler. As you will see, they are not a typical set of rules you expect to read from an article like this. In summary he says: -A travel book is a question never answered -The travel writer is much less traveler than writer -The travel book must teach you something -The travel book, like the traveler, often travels incognito -The travel writer's place is on the threshold, one eye turned toward the reader, one toward the subject -The travel writer need not go far at all -The great travel writer takes in every aspect of what is happening and changing right now, the better to see what is changeless -The true travel writer does not just listen to a place but talks back to it; he's drawn to it by compulsion -In the end, every great travel book is about a journey inside Wow, right? Well don't stop here - read his whole piece and get a better insight into what his advice.