It begins with single, surprising word, given as a gift or appearing in a flash. It leads to a series of writing adventures. It results in a curious collection of 38 different pieces.
"I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine."
— Emily Dickinson
RANDOM WORD ADVENTURES
Words are like beads. We speak, write, think, sing, hear, use, and communicate with word after word, day after day — stringing them together in countless different ways.
How often do we take these little nuggets for granted?
Join me, author Diane Samuels, as I pause with a different word at a time. I invite you to give each one your full attention too — tune in, roll it around, listen closely, see what it might reveal.
Then let me share with you the piece of writing I created after letting my pen flow freely to follow where each word might lead.
What emerged surprised me and I hope it surprises you.
"What an inspired idea…the stories, each one, are remarkable. A feat of imagination. They are so playful, and also, manage to draw you in."
— Esther Freud, novelist
Subscribe to receive full access to this serialisation, one by one, of 38 word-inspired pieces including publication archives. There will be some fun extras too along the way. You are also welcome to share your own word discoveries and responses in the Wordsmith community.
BE SPONTANEOUS (how it began)
"Thanks for agreeing to send a word this week. Please send it by tonight.
P.S. If I’ve already written to your word, I’ll ask for another."It began with some serendipity.
It all started with some serendipity.
Out of the blue, I received an email from Emma Pearson, a former mentee who had moved to France. She was attending a day-long talk in London and had a hunch I might be interested.
“As it happens,” I replied, “I booked a ticket last week. See you there.”
We found each other in the crowd, sat together for the talk, caught up over lunch. At the end of the day, we nearly walked off in each other’s identical coats — same brand, same colour, only different sizes.
Feeling in synch, I asked Emma if she’d like to open a creative dialogue.
“What exactly do you have in mind?” she asked.
I didn’t know, so started to make it up as we headed along the street towards the corner where we’d part ways.
“What if,” I riffed, “we take turns, on alternate weekends, to come up spontaneously with a single word. No planning. The first one that comes to mind.”
Random words are a staple of writing sessions I facilitate - blurt one without thinking, apropos nothing whatsoever - unexpected keys that unlock surprise and take you somewhere different.
“And then,” Emma added, “we write something triggered by the word.”
So we did.
Each week, one of us would send a word and we’d both spend the week writing freely, open to whatever emerged. No polish, no pressure. Then we’d send our writing, no matter how raw, silly or scatty, to each other and give a response. Nothing to prove, we agreed. Let’s discover what we discover. We parted ready to start the next day. Emma would send the first.
This playful experiment continued for five months.
Then Emma informed me that she had to step away due to other commitments. I was surprised at how bereft I felt. Devoting a week to a lone word had become a compelling adventure. Different associations, dimensions, some obvious, many unexpected, keep presenting themselves through characters, relationships, worlds, voices, all facets somehow of these few ordered letters. So many curious gems were emerging.
Emma and I reflected, as we said a farewell to our valued exchange, that the word received from the other tended to be especially stimulating and stretching because it took us out of ourselves. I decided I must keep going.
Who else might throw a word my way? I approached a few friends, colleagues and family members, different ages, some with an interest in creative pursuits, some not.
“Hi, I’m opening up a writing experiment exploring the potential of a single word…
Would you like to send me a word one Saturday (we’ll set the date)? I’ll write to it each day for a week. Then I’ll send you the writing (raw and rough, no doubt), and invite you to respond.
If you feel moved to write something too, I’ll respond in kind.
Let me know if you’re up for it. Love, D.”
Everyone I invited — except one busy friend — said yes.
Now, I’d be receiving from a different person each week. I promised, unless I’d already written to the word, that I would accept whatever I was given, no matter how uninspiring or disconcerting I found it.
"Thanks for agreeing to send a word this week. Please send it by tonight.
P.S. If I’ve already written to your word, I’ll ask for another."
This second phase of the adventure lasted another four months.
Week after week, each word nudged — or sometimes jolted — me into new terrain. The writing flowed, unpredictable, alive. I didn’t know where it was going, but I followed, trusting the glimmers.
This collection brings together pieces from both phases — some inspired by Emma, others by friends and family.
They're not arranged chronologically. But the final piece does come from the last word I received — a perfect resting place.
You’ll find pure fiction, personal reflection, folkish tales, zeitgeist meditations, prose poems, flights of fancy and blends of all these forms. Many of the words resonated in ways neither the giver nor I fully understood, even if there was some obvious reason for the choice. Somehow, our relationships shaped the writing too — unconsciously but unmistakably. I didn’t probe or overthink it. I let it play.
And yes — it was fun.
Even the most ordinary word, I keep discovering, is like a passcode to its own animate universe with dimensions only as finite as your mind allows. Return to it on a different day, in a different mood, and it opens something new — in the word, and in you.
A couple of words sent me in two wildly different directions. I’ve included both, to show how the same word can lead to parallel discoveries.
This entire adventure reached its own perfectly formed completion and synchronistically closes – I couldn’t have made it up - with a word that is the quintessence of randomness: serendipity.
A BIT ABOUT ME
I was born and raised in Liverpool, and moved to London in my early twenties to train and teach drama in inner-city schools. My love of theatre soon led me to writing plays.
In 1992, my play KINDERTRANSPORT won the Verity Bargate Award. Since its premiere at Soho Theatre in 1993, it has been performed and studied all over the world.
Since then, my work has led me in curious and offbeat directions including:
Theatre and radio plays (most recently AS LONG AS WE ARE BREATHING at Arcola Theatre, 2025)
A Pearson Creative Fellowship at the British Library researching magic
Involvement in two Wellcome Trust collaborations, one exploring Pain, the other investigating Contraception through writing, art, and music
Book for musicals - one (with composer Maurice Chernick) telling the rite-of-passage myth of goddess Persephone as a love story; a biographical musical (with composer Gwyneth Herbert) revealing the true-life exploits of Phyllis Pearsall, creator of the A-Z street guide of London. Also a libretto for an opera (again with composer Maurice Chernick) giving voice to Dina, silenced sister of Joseph of multi-coloured coat fame.
Every day, I show up for a stint of meditative free-flow writing, and walk, dance, swim or cycle as well as regularly attending art therapy sessions - all inform and energise my work.
For four decades, I’ve spent many rewarding hours as a facilitator and mentor, supporting writers of all ages. I love playfulness, taking risks, and writing into the unknown — because that’s where the real discoveries are.
My daily writing prompts/provocations on Instagram, Facebook and Threads draw many daft, strange, humorous, thoughtful, at times touching responses and I have often been thanked for adding spark to peoples’ days and triggering small yet meaningful insights. IN A WORD is a further development of this practice of being right here right now and looking at language and life askance to take you beyond yourself and the regular ways of the world - an invitation to venture the next steps from dipping your toe in the water to wading further or, if you like, diving into the waves.
I recently completed my first novel, CINDERS, inspired by the complicated relationship with my father, interwoven with a lesser-known version of a surprisingly edgy Cinderella story found in many folk traditions across the world. I’m currently researching for my next novel.
Serialising IN A WORD on Substack is my latest experiment — this time in author-led publishing.
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