This year's magic numbers are 36,000 words, 32 articles and 185 photographs. That excludes a handful of articles that ran in different markets or the syndicated outlets. It's a little more than I did last year, but still a long way behind the big guns of Australian travel. 50,000 is a good baseline and 100,000 is not uncommon.
Which all makes me wonder what the fuss is about with these honours students who only have to write up 15-20,000 words for a thesis? Every year I'd watch another batch of eager young science students torture themselves for months over what seems like a modest word count.
Admittedly it's easier to get inspired to write another few thousand lines about Antarctic penguin spotting than the second-messenger response of isolated adrenal cells.
But spare a thought for the travel writers this year who not only published their 50,000 words but who also wrote a book. Hats off to those guys and gals - never assume travel writers don't work hard!
