Linked episodes:

1.10a Jini Reddy, Magic in the Landscape

2.10a Marchelle Farrell, My Garden, My Teacher

4.2a Rebecca Schiller, Earthed

4.7a Benjamin Myers, Writing with the Land in ‘The Perfect Golden Circle’

Hello!  Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Kathryn Aalto.  I got a lot out of the chat with Kathryn and it was lovely to be able to catch up with her and go a little deeper into her own creative life and practice.

For this prompt, I’m combining two ideas that came up in the conversation.  Firstly, Kathryn’s definition of ‘sense of place’ and secondly her thoughts on ‘show don’t tell.’  Both of these concepts we covered in the course I took with Kathryn and the ‘show don’t tell’ technique is something I used to use a lot with my groups as a school teacher and still use now with my nature writing groups.

Kathryn spoke of ‘sense of place’ as being ‘That invisible layer of memories, history and emotions that covers a physical landscape with this invisible strata.’

For this prompt, I’d like you to create a description of a place.  This could either be a space new to you, or that you know well, a place in which you feel a sense of belonging.  Perhaps it is a space close to where you live, somewhere you once visited, or somewhere you’re new to.

Wherever it is, you are going to take your reader there using the show don’t tell technique.  For this, you are avoiding telling your reader anything but are rather trying to show them it.  For example, if you are in a woodland space, rather than telling them explicitly that that’s where you are, show them that that’s where you are.  If you need any ideas, consider the following:

• How does the air feel?


• If you close your eyes, what sounds can you hear - close up and far away?


• What colours, shapes and shades catch your eye?


• Consider Kathryn’s definition: what layers, memories, history and emotions exist in this place.  Maybe you have no emotional connection to this place as yet, and aren’t already aware of any history or memories held in the place.  What comes through when you are here?  What can you imagine about this place?

When you read your work through, any sign of you telling me something, edit it to be more descriptive.  Remember this is just an exercise in which you are training your descriptive muscles to be more perceptive, to create more detail and to entice your reader, inviting them into this world with you as their guide.

Please do reach if you use this prompt.  You can find me in my favourite online places - on the website, www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on Instagram @prompted.by.nature

Happy writing!

Helen x