Writing Exercise #1

Mapping Your Neighborhood

Here's an exercise to get you started thinking about details. It will also help you transition from essay writing to short stories because it will help you learn how to use description. I am going to do the first few steps with you so you have an example.

1) Draw a map of the earliest neighborhood you can remember from your childhood, preferably from before you turned ten. If you lived in a city or town, you might want to confine your map to one block or one side of one block, which is what I am going to do. If you grew up in the country, you might want to focus on your road. Give all of the houses names.

I grew up in a small city of about 50,000. I lived in one of the oldest areas of the city from the time I was about two until I graduated from high school and left. I am going to write about the side of the city block where my house was located. Since I can't draw it here, I'm going to list the houses and give them names.

The first house on the corner was a two story grey brick mansion built in the early 1800's. Two elderly women lived there. I'll call it The Mansion.

The next house was a two story red brick house where my friend Raymond lived with his mother and father. I'll call it Raymond's House.

The third house was a one story red brick house which was painted white where I lived with my mother and father. Of course, I will call it My House.

The fourth house was a two story white frame house where an elderly couple named Harriet and L.J. Reinhiemer lived. I'll call it Mr. & Mrs. Reinhiemer's House to differentiate it from the next one on the block.

The fifth house was another two story white frame house where Miss Reinhiemer, L.J.'s spinster sister, lived: Miss Reinheimer's House.

The sixth house was a huge two story frame house which had been unoccupied for years, but it still contained all of the old Victorian furniture in it. I'll call it The Haunted House.

The seventh house was a newer, single story frame house built sideways on its lot where my friend David's grandmother, grandfather and aunt lived: David's House.

The eighth house was an older, poorly kept single story frame house that was occasionally rented, but usually empty. I'll call it The Empty House.

The ninth house was an older, unpainted two story frame house where one elderly, reclusive woman lived. I'll call it The Witch's House.

The last house on the corner was a single story yellow frame house divided into two apartments: The Apartment House.

2) Now that you've drawn your map, you need to write about your life in this neighborhood. You can write about one incident or event or one character that stands out from your childhood experience. I'm going to write about how The Haunted House was finally emptied and torn down. But you'll have to wait until my next blog for that story!