Travel writing seems like a pretty good gig, huh? So how exactly does one do it. Wendy Knight, an award-winning writer and editor who contributes to The New York Times, Outside Magazine, The Boston Globe and The Los Angeles Times weighs in with some tips on how to break into the biz.

Travel writing is a lot like dating. Screw up the opening line, and your object of affection may turn on her heels and saunter off. The lead to your travel article determines whether your reader is sufficiently enticed to want more. Learn how to craft a compelling lead and you'll leave your reader (or date) breathless for the next word. Here are some successful lead styles:

Narrative: Tells a story with the reader as protagonist. "Dallas Love leads a massive gray gelding out of the low whitewashed stable into the yard and loops his lead shank through an iron ring on the stucco wall." (Cecily Ross, "View From the Saddle," New York Times, October 3, 2004).

Descriptive: Uses strong verbs and adjectives to vividly describe a scene. "The lady with the dog was dressed all in green, like a human lime- a gringa in capri pants and beehive do, wobbling over the cobblestone in stilettos, her leashed Chihuahua prancing alongside in a matching chemise and bonnet." (Rand Richards Cooper, "Mexico's Colonial Trail," Bon Appetit, May 2003).

Quotation: A short, relevant quip or remark by a well-known figure. "There is nothing new to say about Venice... but the old is better than any novelty' wrote the American novelist Henry James more than a hundred years ago." (Michael Webb, "Masters in Venice" Islands, May/June 2003).

Dialogue: Brings the reader into the story through a remark uttered by someone in the story. "Shouts come from the upper deck: "Killer whales off the port bow!" (Matthew Chapman, "Islands of the Fittest," National Geographic Traveler, April 2003).

Declaration: Bold, declarative sentence."Four o-clock is a good time in Old San Juan." (Henry Shukman, "Salsa Kings of Old San Juan," Islands, May/June 2003)

Question: Addresses the reader directly with a question, preferably one with less cliché and repulsion than 'your place or mine?' "Trouble ahead (cars passing on curves, trouble behind (cars snorting your bumper); ditching the car just crossed your mind?" (Heather Smith MacIsaac, "By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea," Travel & Leisure, May 1997)

Want to learn more? Take Wendy's Mediabistro course, "On the Road: Breaking into Travel Writing" in May!