An audiobook about how (not) to write a travel book: 9 lessons from my failed van-life memoir

About this episode

Rolf Potts shares nine lessons learned from his attempt to write a van-life memoir.

“No endeavor to write a travel book is ever lost, since it gives you a useful perspective on (and intensified attention to) the reality of the travel experience itself. When embraced mindfully, the real-time experience of a journey is invariably its truest reward.” –Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate, Rolf touches on nine lessons from attempting to write a (never finished) van-life vagabonding memoir at age 23, including: On Pilgrims in a Sliding World (1:00) Lesson #1: No work is lost (and “failure” has lessons to teach) On the author as a character (6:30) Lesson #2: “Show, don’t tell” is still good narrative advice On depicting other people (14:30) Lesson #3: Travel books require reporting (not just recollecting) On recounting dialogues (22:30) Lesson #4: Be true to what was said (but make sure it serves a broader purpose) On veering from the truth (32:30) Lesson #5: The truth tends to work better than whatever you might make up On depicting places (39:30) Lesson #6: “Telling details” are better than broad generalizations about a place On neurotic young-manhood (48:30) Lesson #7: Balance narrative analysis with narrative vulnerability The seeds of Vagabonding (1:01:30)…

People in this episode

Host: Rolf Potts

Topics covered

• writing
• travel
• memoir
• lessons learned
• narrative techniques
• personal growth

Keywords

• travel writing
• memoir lessons
• narrative advice
• van-life
• personal experience
• storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Geto Boys, Vagabonding, The Anxiety of Influence

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