Miles Roddis talks about the process of writing a travelguide – Exercise B – answers

1 He says that there is a considerable degree of overlap.
overlap – noun – stressed on the 1st syllable – part of an area or topic which extends into another one, which partly coincides with another. Eg Today we will cover medical problems of the ear – and you’ll find when we go onto conditions and problems of the nose and throat there’ll be a certain amount of overlap – i.e. some material / information will be the same as that already covered.
The verb overlap is stressed on the 2nd syllable – extend over, partly coincide with – eg His visit overlapped with ours / Our visits overlapped.
2 He is writing up the previous day’s experiences.
To be on the road – to be on a long journey or moving from place to place
3 That he researched the area in more depth than before, but not quite from scratch.
If you do sth from scratch you do it from the very beginning, especially without making use of any previous work.
4 Having collected it, he has to 1) make sure it is right, and 2) present it well. He has to 1) get the factual information right, and 2) sort out its style – so that it inspires the reader to go where the writer had been.
5 The writing brief for magazines, when you have ‘a very real freedom’.
A brief – a set of instructions given to a person about a task eg a legal brief / a writing brief
You produce / write sth to a brief – i.e. in accordance with what you have been asked for
6 A commissioning editor.
7 Because if you’re writing for a particular guidebook you have to make your information conform to the format the book requires. A template is a form of pattern that imposes certain exact specifications on a document or material.
8 25 – 50 words.
9 Between 60-80 words.
typeface – specialised – the style and size of printed letters used in a piece of printed writing such as in a newspaper, book or article.
10 He uses the word ‘constrained‘ while working within those limits.
11 4 or 5.
a draft – a preliminary version of a piece of writing
12 The designers’ improvements, the layout in book form, and the photographs.
a compendium is a collection of concise, detailed information about a subject. Miles says compendious – which is the adjective
13 Maybe 5 or 6.
14 The finished product.
15 He says it all seems worthwhile.

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