Essential tips and strategies for telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy

Episode 237 March 12, 2024 00:58:23
Essential tips and strategies for telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy
Deviate
Essential tips and strategies for telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy

Mar 12 2024 | 00:58:23

/

Hosted By

Rolf Potts

Show Notes

“We 'massage' the truth to make it fit the narrative we need it to fit in our lives.”  –Andrew McCarthy In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Andrew talk about how Andrew got started in travel writing, and how writing himself on the page helped him see himself in the world (2:30); when he does and doesn't conflate certain details in the interest of a good story, and how he balances the "micro" and the "macro" elements of a travel story (12:30); how he decides who to write about, among the many people he meets on the road, which details do and don't drive the narrative forward, and what it's like to meet travelers who recognize him from his acting days (23:30); how Andrew structures his travel stories, and what travel storytelling in common with his work as a TV director (31:00); how he balances his writing and non-writing work in life, and how he mixes personal details with place details in his travel writing (38:00); and how memory can be fallible, and how to best write about family members (47:00). Andrew McCarthy (@AndrewTMcCarthy) is an actor, television director and writer of such books as The Longest Way Home and Brat. His newest book is Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain. Notable Links: The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

Other Episodes

Episode 0

September 03, 2019 01:10:16
Episode Cover

Pico Iyer on travel, impermanence, and what Japan can teach us about life

“The boundaries of life are responsible for the beauty of life.” – Pico Iyer In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Pico discuss the...

Listen

Episode

July 17, 2019 01:03:29
Episode Cover

Will New Orleans still be there in 100 years? Examining the fate of a city.

“In the United States, failure is seen as a sin. In New Orleans we treasure our successes but we embrace life on its way...

Listen

Episode 0

January 28, 2020 01:09:50
Episode Cover

A personal history of being a lifelong pro-sports fan (Super Bowl special)

"Because I was entering football fandom at the same age that Star Wars was blowing up, the Roger Staubach Dallas Cowboys were my Luke...

Listen