Seven years ago Rob McFarland was an IT consultant who had never been published. Now he’s one of Australia’s leading travel writers, with five writing awards including Australian Travel Writer of the Year. He’s proof that you don’t need to have studied journalism or worked on a newspaper to break into travel writing.

Rob is running an intensive two-day travel writing workshop for aspiring travel writers.

Content
During the course, you will learn how to:

• Recognise good travel writing
• Generate story angles
• Write compelling openings and closings
• Structure a feature
• Apply a specialised toolkit of travel writing techniques
• Edit effectively
• Pitch to editors
• Take great travel photos
• Operate as a freelancer
• Market yourself

Most importantly, you’ll get detailed feedback on your writing during the course plus the opportunity to submit a second feature to be critiqued after the course has finished.

You’ll also join a network of course alumni who receive ongoing support via a dedicated Facebook group and have regular meetups.

Results
Previously unpublished participants have gone on to have their work accepted by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Sun-Herald, Get Lost magazine and Signature magazine.

Writing credentials
Rob is a regular contributor to a wide range of publications in Australia and New Zealand including the Sydney Morning Herald, Sun-Herald, Escape travel section, NZ Herald, West Australian, Luxury Travel, Voyeur, Air New Zealand’s inflight (KiaOra), Men’s Style & GQ magazines. He is a member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers (ASTW) and is a judge for the annual Gourmet Traveller and Hotel Management awards.

Teaching credentials
Rob has lectured at Sydney Uni, taught at TAFE and worked as a corporate trainer for the learning and development specialist TP3. He’s a qualified trainer with a Cert IV in Training and Assessment and has extensive experience of developing and delivering training programs.

Details
When: 2 sessions – 10am-4:30pm on Sat 12 and Sat 19 Nov, 2011
Where: Vibe Hotel, 111 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000
How much: $399
How many: Limited to 12 spaces

For more information and to reserve your place, email robmcfarland@yahoo.com or see www.robmcfarland.org

Participant Feedback
"Rob McFarland's course far exceeded my expectations. At the end of Day 1 I was inspired. I felt I had the tools to produce a great story. Day 2 made me realise how I run with inspiration to actually be a travel writer. Based on Rob's encouragement, I pitched my article from the course to the SMH and it was accepted. I never would have done this on my own and Rob not only made it possible, but also very easy." Emily S

"Fantastic, inspiring, exciting, motivating. This kind of knowledge could take months, even years to establish on one’s own. I finished the course feeling that there wasn’t anything you didn’t cover for us be able to go out and have a really good crack at being a travel writer." Annabelle S

“I’ve done a fair few writing courses over the years with the NSW Writer's Centre, and this would easily be the best, both in structure, presentation, access to information, content and value for money.” Alison A, literacy teacher

“It was a great course and everything you said made so much sense and had so much value. It enabled me to break through whatever the barrier was that was stopping me from finding my travel writers voice. Suddenly I got it.” Deborah J,  journalist

“I really loved your course – very inspiring and so constructive – thank you.” Susan H

“It was great having the opportunity to write a piece during the week. Going through everyone’s stories and getting individual feedback was the highlight.” Anthony M

"I'd done a travel writing course once before, through the Centre for Adult Learning at Syd Uni, and Rob effectively crammed into 2 days what that course accomplished over 8 weeks." Simon P

"I thought it was just terrific. Well planned and structured, and equally well-implemented and presented. I run a business based on communicating with an audience, and Rob is a communicator par excellence." Jan B

"Wow! I have done a few writing courses over the last 7 or so years. Yours was the best structured and most clearly delivered." Ian B

"Thanks so much for such a great couple of days. I felt that I got a lot from it, and my questions around travel writing have been answered." Olivia V

"I loved the course. I thought it was brilliant. I want to do it again and again just to hear the stories of the other students." Emily S

"The course was great. You're a fab teacher and I really liked the way you got everyone involved. I feel like all the questions that I had before about how to start up as a travel writer have been answered...now it's just actually doing it." Bee B