How to Make Money from Writing

I made money from travel writing by accident, but it’s an accident waiting to happen to anyone.

After retiring in my 40s, I found I had the time to do what I always wanted to do. Three years later, I self-published my first funny memoir, I know, I'm a slow writer.

People liked it, so I published two more. I thought that would do — but then I read Bill Bryson’s Notes from a small island.

Bill Bryson inspired me, but not how you think.

After two decades living in North Yorkshire, Bill Bryson was heading back to the States. Before leaving, he took one last trip around Britain, a sort of farewell tour.

He came up with a route he dubbed ‘The Bryson Line.’ Running from the south-east coast of England to the north-west coast of Scotland, or more accurately, a leisurely zig-zag across England and a quick jaunt to John O’Groats.

It’s a splendid book, Bryson writes with honesty and humour. But I felt short-changed. After weaving his way back and forth across England, he arrived in Scotland, took a train as far north as it would go, then hired a car to pitch up in John O’Groats. There he popped his head out the window, made a joke and buggered off.

Bill Bryson didn’t do Scotland justice.

Scotland accounts for a third of the total area of the UK and is infinitely more beautiful than England. It topped one poll as the most stunning country on the planet.

We have mountains, lochs and castles to admire. We even have clean, pale-blue waters with white sandy beaches on which to sun ourselves — well, maybe not sun ourselves, but they are nice to peek at through the hood of an anorak.

You will wonder why you didn’t think of it before.

I added travel writing to my CV and didn’t realize how profitable it would be until I popped my expenses onto my tax return.

Add travel writing to your CV and every trip becomes tax-deductible. Even if nobody reads your work, it can set your costs against your other earnings.

I self-published, and that is a lot of work — you don’t have to. You can be a travel writer if you only post the occasional blog.

You can do it here on Vocal. The Wander Community is looking for stories.

Where to go, where to stay, what to do. The ultimate site for travelers and wanderers.

You need only post an article and that’s you.

But there’s more. You’ll want to do your research.

Before I took to travel writing, I’d turn up at my destination and wing it. Now I look for interesting places to visit and unusual sights to see. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t hold the record for running around Scotland.

Starting at the Firth of Forth, I careered up the east coast, past St. Andrews to Aberdeen, and rounded John O’Groats at top speed. I switched into fifth gear. Barrelled my way past the Outer Hebrides, galloped down the west coast by the Mull of Kintyre before rounding the Solway Firth where I nearly bumped into two bemused women in duffle coats walking in the opposite direction.

If I hadn’t done my research, I’d never have known about The Great Polish Map of Scotland. Puffed out but proud, it took me 53 seconds to run around it.

It sits on the grounds of Barony Castle between Edinburgh and Peebles. The first stone was laid in 1974, and it took the sweat of a small group of Polish students six summers to build. Left untended for years, it was only recently rediscovered and renovated.

Doing your homework increases your chances of having a good time. Psychological studies show much of the pleasure gained from travel is in the anticipation. As a dog salivates over its food, anticipation helps you savour the journey.

You are more absorbed.

Travel becomes something more than finding a different place to sit. Writing requires you to convert sights, sounds and smells into words. And that means firing up your synapses, you become more engaged with your surroundings.

Travel broadens the mind — but only if you are curious about the places you go.

Everyone sees something different.

Your experience is not my experience. Our travel blogs, books and stories won’t be the same. We all have our own writing styles. I like to add a little humour to the proceedings. Others tell of their trip to Hogwarts.

This is ‘The Harry Potter Bridge’ — Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scotland

There is an audience for your writing.

Not everyone can find the time or money to travel to all the places they want to go. Reading a good travel piece brings it alive. In sharing your experiences, other people can see the beauty in somewhere they might never visit.

Some people like to switch off, lie on a lounger and do nothing. If that’s you, then write about it, there will be other’s who want to know the best place to chill by the pool.

You’ll have better anecdotes.

I drove through the single track road that dissects Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club, parked up at Chanonry Point. I wandered down to the beach. And there they were, perhaps two dozen bottle-nosed dolphins bobbing in and out the water in the middle of the firth.

For twenty minutes I stared out across the water, mesmerised. I double-timed it back to my car, grabbed my binoculars and then scampered back to the water’s edge only to realise they weren’t dolphins. I’d been watching waves forming as the water crashed over rocks.

Freebies and things.

I wrote about my trip to Mull, one of my favourite places in all Scotland.

Not long after publishing, Sir Lachlan Hector Charles MacLean, the 28th chief of the Scottish clan and 12th Baronet of Morvern contacted me. I’d written about Duart Castle, his ancestral home, and now my book is for sale in their gift shop.

If I have the opportunity to mention my occupation, I’ll say, ‘travel writer’. It may have been that, or just luck, but an upgraded sea view room and the strawberries dipped in chocolate were welcome additions to my stay in Nairn.

In the summer, the owners were looking to publicise their brand new lodges at Elsay May, Turnberry. They invited my wife and me to try them out for free.

The little Hobbit Lodges are truly exceptional, with stunning views across the water to Ailsa Craig and Arran. It is a beautiful part of our country and the only cost was my food and petrol.

There is more to travel writing than saving a fortune in tax. It has enhanced my travel experiences, I look forward to trips with relish.

The pandemic has curtailed travel for everyone but as the vaccination programme is rolled out, people are looking for information on their next trip.

And there is one more thing that pops up now and again, the cherry on the cocktail: sometimes you get a great review that makes it all worthwhile.