I think
that there are negatives and positives to having competition among travel
writers. At times, I feel like it is not necessary for travel writers to want
to have the most outrageous trip. No matter where a writer travels it is most
likely going to be a good or unique experience. I think it depends on the perspective
of the reader as well. Some people might find that traveling to Asia, for
example, is an amazing trip. Others might find that it is somewhere they do not
wish to go or have no feelings towards that place. I think that it could
possibly be detrimental to the piece because the author could be focusing on
the competition rather than the matter at hand. Also, what if the place they
visited was not all that outrageous? But he/she wants to make it look that way.
This made me think of a competition I had among one of my teammates in high
school while playing lacrosse. I constantly strived to be better than this one
girl on my team and did not focus on the game as a whole. I think competition can
be a bad thing at times because it could make people forget about what they are
trying to prove in the first place. If travel writers do not focus on the
beauty of their writing and where they went then it could possibly be detrimental
to their writings.
On the
other hand, I think competition makes things so much more fun and exciting. I
believe competition is one of the best motivators. It could make a travel
writer’s piece so much more interesting because they have something to prove to
their competitor. This motivation would a positive thing because the author
would want to make his exerts sound a million times better because of his competitor.
Overall, it was difficult for me to pick one or the other because I believe
there can pros and cons to both views. Without competition there is a lack of
motivation, but with competition it can be difficult to focus on the travel
writing piece at hand. I think it was difficult for me to choose because I am
such a competitive person, but I know my limits.
Abby,
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree more that competition can be detrimental to a piece if a writer lacks focus on what was right in front of them. I believe sometimes competition may make a writer embellish some facts from their trip so that the information comes across as more interesting. I agree that you have to know your limits when it comes to competition because then you will know when to walk away and when to keep fighting and trying to prove the “amazing trip.”
Their are definitely positives and negatives to competition in travel writing. I think you explored both points very well, and I agree with the things you said.
ReplyDeleteYou make very great point in both pros and cons. I also agree it is uncalled for to have traveling competition because it takes away from the traveling experience and you miss out on having a great time. When you are traveling you have nothing to prove like what Katie said.
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with you. I'm somewhat struggling between the need of competition writing also. I can understand the need of competition in a business sense, however, I also agree with the fact that the matter at hand may be left wayside through the emphasis on competition. I'm glad that I'm not the only one with this same mindset. I think that you have presented great thoughts and insight on the topic!