Jennifer Buller

NAME: Jennifer Buller
BLOG: Parmesan Shavings

How did you learn about MatadorU?

I spend a lot of time online, probably too much, and when I am not catching up with Daily Show episodes or reading McSweeney’s and Slate, I delude myself that surfing will somehow help me figure out what to do with my life. So, I was once again browsing online degrees and distance learning opportunities, trying to find something productive to do from my “remote” location here in Parma, Italy. One of the Google searches, I wish I remembered which one, gave me MatadorU and i signed up in like 3 seconds.

Why were you interested in the travel writing program?

I have done other online courses, like Gotham, and have traveled to England for creative writing courses with the Arvon Foundation, but I found both of those experiences essentially disappointing, because there was such a lack of practical information involved. Seriously, I thought if I have to do another free-write on my most traumatic experience and read it out loud to some strangers, I will throw myself out the window (creating material for the next trauma free-write those strangers have to tackle.) The Matador coursework seemed to relate to the real world and that really appealed to me.

What convinced you to enroll in the program?

As I said, the practical nature of the course was really the USP for me. And I thought the price was reasonable. I was looking for a kick in the butt to jump start work on my Parma guidebook, so the timing was spot on.

What are the most valuable lessons you have learned in the U so far?

I think the biggest take-away to date is the material covered in the U on finding target publications. Thanks to all the great legwork of the Matador team and the students who came before me, I have learned about a whole range of publications I had never heard of before. I have also discovered publications that write things that I would like to be writing, so I felt like there really could be a niche for me in the travel writing market, even if some of the more trendy labels (“extreme”, “backpacking”) don’t fit me.

Some of the advice to do with crafting dialogue and tightening up language and focusing on beginnings and endings is not really new for me with my long history of writing courses, but you can never hear it enough! I figure the more you hammer it into your brain, the greater the chance for it to stick. And the thing I am most looking forward to? The social media aspects of travel writing, to take it to the next/future level.