Dialogue and the Zettelkasten

In our research on how to turn literary travel writing projects into research projects, Jasna and I have developed a process of journaling with dialogue at the centre. This dialogue might start with reading an academic article that proposes a new theory in tourism or it could be an interview with someone in the industry. 

Capture the Catalyst

As promptly as possible, this catalyst is captured in the online file-card index, and a section of affirmative journaling is written up while the idea is still stimulating and challenging. In our experiments I have made a page template for MS OneNote with named cells in a table of prompts to gather the journaling process, please see the picture of my Zettelkasten template below for MS OneNote:

Next, of course, we need to test our processual methodology over and over again in professional projects for DMOs and with destination stakeholders to make it robust for the industry. We are planning to explore a few tourism towns, beginning with Zadar. In true dialogic style, I want to ask readers, ‘Have you ever been to Zadar?’ And, if you live in the UK or US, then: ‘Do you even know where Zadar is?’

We cover this dialogue process for travel writers in much more detail in the book. And we are pleased to report that the manuscript is now with the publishers. The production process is underway and I will be able to let you know soon through these blog pages when the book is going to be available. Do follow Travel Writers Online please, to stay updated with tourism research matters. It is best to follow in Google Chrome, and please login to your free Google Account before clicking on the blue Follow button (inside the 3-bar menu screen, top-right).

Update: Our textbook for tourism travel writers was published on 1st January 2023 by Routledge (Taylor & Francis, London and New York). You can read more about it on later pages in this blog magazine, Travel Writers Online.