Writing & Walking – Two Walks, Two Stories and a Poem

I Google walking and writing and see that I’m not alone in finding inspiration when I’m out walking. But what is it about walking that’s so creative?

‘Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move,” wrote Henry Thoreau, “my thoughts begin to flow.” So it is with me. The minute I begin walking a vein of creativity opens up and ideas come flooding in. I think this happens by sleight because I’m not really thinking and perhaps that’s the key. The mind is free to wander.

There is also the sheer physicality of it: ‘Poetry is written from the body as well as the mind, and the rhythm and pace of a walk can get you going and keep you grounded. It’s a kind of light meditation.’ The poet Edward Hirsch. Read more of his wonderful piece on walking and writing HERE

For me being alone is also a key factor. Being alone is a gift to a writer, there are so many possibilities in the space that aloneness creates.

There is also being outside and the inspiration of the natural world – like my buttercup field above. It’s all too easy to get hemmed in by weather, illness, difficulty, whatever, but walking especially in the sun can mend most things.

When I’m walking words float into my head, often the first lines of a story. In the last two days on my walks I found the bones of two stories and a poem. Great but distracting – next time I go out I’m intending to head in the direction of my new novel…

HERE’S the writer Val MacDermid on walking, writing and the beauty of the Northumberland coast.