The county I live in, Kent, is full of amazing walks, but for some reason we always just pick the same two or three and enjoy them on repeat. So maybe it was the rain all day – and I mean all day – on Saturday but on Sunday we were ready to try somewhere different.

To be specific, we were on the look out for autumn colour. Disappointingly, we didn’t find too much of that – are the trees waiting this year? Or are we just too impatient? But we did enjoy seeing new views, finding new routes to enjoy, and even facing difficult choices…

Dear reader, I am still here to tell you that we took the Alternative Path!

And maybe it’s because this was somewhere new to us, that I started seeing possible stories everywhere. Although who am I kidding? I always see stories everywhere! Here though are some photos I took to remind me of possibilities… I share them with you, together with some prompts if you wish to use them. It’s a nice way to kick-start this blog back into action. Some may work for you, others leave you cold, and how you use them is up to you. Flick through and pick just one that sparks something, or you can use them all with one imaginary character … taking him or her for a walk!

1.

This hedgerow reminded me of an exercise we used to do at school, where we would have to inspect just one small square of earth to try to count all the different species living there. Perhaps you did something similar and so I invite you to write about the experiments you carried out when younger – that went right or wrong! OR go out into your garden or local park and do something similar. Identify as many plants and bugs as you can. Name them.

2.

How cosy do these sweet chestnuts look? I invite you to write about somewhere that’s a safe place for you. If one doesn’t come immediately to mind, make it up – what would it look like, what would you need there, who would you allow/want to visit?

3.

Write your day via a series of round objects…. (you can start with the rim of your coffee or tea mug!) OR write a circular story that starts somewhere and ends back at exactly the same place but with everything changed.

4.

Write about a time you stepped off the path … it may be a real path or one through life that someone else mapped out for you. What does the path least travelled mean for you? You may want to read Robert Frost’s poem first and see if anything comes up for you! You could even take the ‘Dangerous Route Ahead’ sign at the top of this blogpost and use that as a title…

5.

Here’s a ‘what if’ for you… you find a strange line of footprints and feel compelled to follow them. What happens next?

6.

Take yourself off for a walk – in countryside or through streets – and count how many stars you can see. Write something about five different kinds of stars…

7.

Every time I see red berries at this time of year I think, ‘uh oh, cold winter ahead’. Tell me about all the different superstitions or old wives tales like that you’ve ingested over the years. You can make a story using them as paragraph headings… ESPECIALLY if they come true!

8.

And lastly, write a map of somewhere you know well – either now or in the past. You can draw it first if that helps, and try to add as many details as you can – both factual and emotional.

There you have it… stories everywhere! It’s been a pleasure to go on an autumn walk with you. Shall we go somewhere different soon? If you write anything from any of these prompts, I’d love to know how it goes for you!