The Character Map: Writing Map

by Shaun Levin, Hannah Rowlands (Illustrator)

How well do you know your characters? Do you know what they believe in, who their first love was, how they listen to music, when they first encountered death? Do you know what they'd think about you? The writing exercises on The Character Map will inspire you to create complex and authentic characters, as well as help you discover new things about the characters in your stories. The exercises on the Character Map Writing Map will prompt you to explore the soundtrack to your character's life, to look inside their bag and pockets, and to sit with them on a park bench and talk about love. WRITING MAPS are a portable, practical and inspiring guide through the wonders and perils of writing fiction and memoir. Each illustrated map contains at least 12 extended and thought-provoking writing exercises that will help you explore the city, the home, characters in fiction and memoir, the writing process, and life in general. Writing Maps are devised to inspire stories, spice up your writing routine, expand your work, develop work-in progress, or just make sure you have writerly fun in ways that will surprise you. No more writer's block! Never be at a loss for something to write about! Inspiration in your pocket wherever you go.

2 pages, Map

Published December 1, 2012

About the author

Shaun Levin is the author, most recently, of Snapshots of The Boy, an exploration of the unseen stories in photographs. His first book, Seven Sweet Things, published originally in the UK in 2003, has just be re-issued. His other books include A Year of Two Summers and Isaac Rosenberg's Journey to Arras: A Meditation.

He is currently completing the first in a trilogy of fictional biographies based on the lives of the artists Mark Gertler, Isaac Rosenberg, and David Bomberg. An extract from the Mark Gertler novel won the Moment-Karma Fiction Prize in 2006 and can be found on his website, shaunlevin.com.

Shaun has recently written and launched a series of illustrated creative writing maps of inspiration, Writing Maps.

He is also the founding editor of the international queer literary and arts journal, Chroma.