Tim Cahill in Sense of Place, a collection of interviews with travel writers put together by Michael Shapiro, said this:
Whether you are writing, or preparing a journey to a new country, it helps to have a good idea of what your quest is.
🌍 What are you going to try to do?
🌍 What are you going to try to find out?
Preparation is key if you don’t want to be overwhelmed with things that you could write about.
If you have an idea of what your Quest is, you will be able to create and follow a story line.
I’m working on these questions as I prepare for a writing retreat with a difference. I plan to be afloat on the Atlantic Ocean for two weeks in November as I work on a new nonfiction book.
It will be a true voyage of discovery, as I look for the why, who and what of my book and actually land on unfamiliar, island shores where I want to experience the botany and bird life there and try to find out what voyagers across those waters hundreds of years ago may have seen and felt.