Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s exuberant essay "Street Haunting," Taking Your Words for a Walk will provide you with writing activities and story suggestions as you explore and write about any city or town, real or imagined.
Even heading out to buy a pencil (as Virginia Woolf does in her essay) can evoke a world of unexpected stories. This Writing Map will inspire you to use the city's streets, shops, bridges, people, and your own memories as rich starting points for surprising narratives.
Sample prompt:
Seek Out Beauty. Write about the shops you pass, the buses, the people waiting at bus-stops or standing in line at the bakery, drinking coffee in cafés. Write about beautiful things that hold your attention. A person, a tree, a baby smiling, a puppy. Be on the lookout for beauty. Tell the story of an early encounter with beauty, the realisation that something, someone, or a particular gesture is beautiful. Write about what that moment has meant to you and how it has shaped your view of people and the world.
The Writing Map is devised and written by Shaun Levin with illustrations by Günberk Gülderen. The A3 map (297x420mm) folds down to A6 (105x148mm, postcard size), and is printed on 170gsm paper.
