Map Room

The Map Room by Darin Tran, YWA member 2026

As a student enters the Map Room, an earthy smell consisting of colored pencils, new wood, and old bricks washes over them. In front of them is an array of workstations, organized like different countries, each with their own color pencils. From the top corners of the room, empty map papers encourages them to jot down different aspects of their story onto seperate islands, allowing for their ideas to burst while being organized. 

After imagining and picking some ideas to follow, the student grabs some more map paper. With their initial brainstorm in mind, they plot different story paths to follow, each on their own island. The atmosphere allows them to create out of the box events that masterfully connect together. When they find their next great idea, they at last grab a story hill paper to plan out a story. 

During this time, another student, with an essay in mind, sits down, having grabbed some “Let’s Tackle The Essay” guides from the bottom corners of the room. As the scholar sits down on the sofa-like chair, relaxing their nerves, he starts to list out different catagories, illustrates, and explains to utilize in his essay. Outlining using the t-chart and PIE example papers in the corners of the room, the writer maps out his essay, connecting his pieces of evidences to his thesis.

Once the two students finish their outlines, for a story and essay respectively, the earthy smell assisting with their focus, the maps around remind them to always be accurate in their setting. For the story writer, it helps formulate possible settings. On the other hand, the essay writer uses it to get an idea as to where their events took place. While one maps out a story, with the other writing an essay, the Map Room encourages writers to connect, organize, and plan ahead.