Step 1: Isolate a single room or outdoor space that was an essential place of your childhood. From memory, draw a map of the place, including as many physical details as possible.
Step 2: Write a list that expands on the map by including descriptive sensory details of every element on the map.
Step 3: Fill in an emotional tone for each detail (for example, did the wallpaper make you happy? What about the paint? How did the grass make you feel?)
Step 4: Using the map and the lists you've generated, write a brief essay in which you try to explain why this place is so important to you. In other words, walk the reader through the space and its emotional links to you.
