Introduction. This blog will be focusing on the text in the two-page spread, and how it is written. This includes the voice it is written in, target audience, usage of slang, and more. I will be taking this research into account when writing and creating my own two-page spread.
Research. When looking at articles from travel magazines, you can see that the language is not completely informal, but it is also not 100% formal. This is because although full sentences and punctuation is used, there is first-person. The tone is respectful, honest, and truthful. This is because you want the readers to trust you, and they will not trust you if you are lying in the article. In addition, disrespecting the audience means that they will not read the magazines anymore. There is no slang, but the information presented is more interesting with the way it is presented. For example when looking at the article below, we can see that it starts with "Hugged by water on three sides, Italy has more than 4,700 miles of coastline and some of the world's most breathtaking coastal vistas." All this is saying is that Italy is surrounded by water, but the way the words are manipulated makes the article sound much more interesting, and hooks the reader. It also starts off by talking about all the fun things to do in Italy, and are even encouraging you to travel by talking about how other people are traveling. What stood out to me was the way the different locations are talked about, with the article saying "Venice await, while islands such as Sicily and Capri beckon with ancient ports and artisan shops." The way that the sentence is worded and the advanced vocabulary makes the sentence sound a lot more interesting, which persuades the reader to traveling there. This is because although you want to stay away from being too basic, you do not want the vocabulary too advanced that it throws the reader off, so you have to find a balance in between that keeps the reader engaged like this article does.This is further emphasized by a "How to go" section right underneath. This "How to go" section is consistent among different articles in this magazine, and just tells the audience how to travel to a location. This appears after every article about traveling to a certain location. The box includes how to travel, and what you can do while traveling. This does not have to be present in the form of a box, and can be pushed into the article itself. The way the articles end are with a sentence that really pushes the audience to travel, then the "How to travel" box underneath, so that they travel. Pull quotes are not present, but this is because the article talks about all the things to do in Europe and Italy, and does this very effectively. Pull quotes are not needed, and can actually overwhelm the reader with all the text, which is something you want to avoid unless you are purposely trying to challenge the codes and conventions.
In the next article, you can see that the language is even less formal. This is with the article about Iceland saying "us," and is talking about how people react to certain conditions on a more personal level. There are full sentences, so it is a little bit formal. The tone is very respectful to the audience carefully explaining the travel location, and being truthful. This is because you want the audience to feel welcome and trust you, and this will not happen if you lie or disrespect the audience.There is not a lot of slang, included in the article, and there are not many technical terms either, however, there is advanced vocabulary. This is because if more basic vocabulary was used, the audience would not trust the articles because it would look too elementary level. It does not include vocabulary too advanced that it throws off the reader. The article includes all the things to do in Iceland, and how fun they are. The article actually starts with talking about how everyone has been indoors due to COVID-19, which takes the article to.a more personal level. This makes the reader trust the article more, and is further emphasized by COVID-19 being stated, which shows that the article is recent, and the writers know what is going on in the world. The article ends with talking about how Iceland is one of the world's most vaccinated country, which gives the audience reassurance that it is safe to travel to Iceland. What stood out the most to me is that the text makes direct connections to the image above by stating "you can stroll black-sanded beaches," which helps to make the audience trust the article even more. Another thing that stood out is how small yet effective the article is, which shows that the proper manipulation of words are more important than the amount of text written, There are no pull quotes, but this is because this article is more informal than formal, and talks on a more personal level. The article is also short, which means the writers wanted to keep this section brief. Articles that describe a certain location and a "How to go" box are present across my genre as this helps the reader know all the information needed to travel, from information on the place, to transportation methods. It does not have to be a separate box, but can be in the actual article. Articles in my genre will include both of these topics (information and how to travel), and can be formatted differently from different publishers.
Tips. When looking at these 2 examples, it is clear that the tone used is more informal than formal, and descriptive. This is so that the article sounds exciting, and that the travel location is actually a good place to travel to. You have to stay respectful to the reader, try to include as much information as you can without overwhelming the reader. The language used is descriptive and detailed enough so that the audience can actually picture the location in mind. To achieve this, sensory features could be talked about, such as how something feels, tastes, sounds, and more. When wring a travel article, you will want to have an interesting first paragraph. This will be the reader's first impression of you, so you will want to hook them to make sure that they stay and read your entire magazine. You can do this by creating a good hook, and include an anecdote. You also want to entertain the reader, not impress them. Do not include complicated phrases and advanced vocabulary that the average reader cannot understand as it will only make the reader stop reading. Include vivid language and try to not be bland to make the reader truly understand what is going on at the location. The writing has to be structured containing a good introduction like talked about before, and an ending that is interesting and leaves the reader with an important point.
Audience. There are a lot of different types of audience for travel magazines. The first one is people who have no plans for traveling. The article is supposed to make the audience interested in traveling. The second type of audience is the audience that knows they want to travel, but not where. They will be browsing the internet, and looking for locations to travel to. The third audience is the audience that knows that they want to travel and where they are going to travel, but need to find out how to get there. They will be on the internet looking for ways to travel, hotel rooms, rental cards, and other essentials. The fourth type of audience is that who are looking for secondary booking. Travel magazines should include the different things to do at a location to help people make this bookings. The fifth type of audience is the audience that is traveling in your area. This audience will be looking for things to do in that specific area. Travel magazines should include local things to do, just like for the fourth audience. A travel magazine should include everything necessary for all the five types of audiences.
Conclusion. When writing a travel magazine, you will want to be respectful, do not be too formal or informal, and sound exciting. Try to include ample information without overwhelming the reader, and hit on important points such as details about a location, restrictions, and how to travel there. Manipulate words properly to engage the reader, and keep consistencies in the magazine. Be descriptive, and write an interesting first paragraph. Taking all of this into consideration, you will want to structure it properly so that it does not throw your reader off.
Works Cited. Dan Linstead 28 December 2021. “10 Expert Tips for Writing Travel Articles.” Wanderlust, https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/10-tips-for-writing-travel-articles/.
“5 Travel Target Audiences & How to Generate Leads at Every Stage.” Vertical Leap, 23 Nov. 2021, https://www.vertical-leap.uk/blog/top-5-travel-target-audiences-and-how-to-capture-them/.
AAA magazine JAN/FEB 2022 edition
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