As writers, it’s common for us to come up with an idea for the story or chapter we want to write. But then writer’s block sets in, and we’re not sure how to get those ideas on paper. That’s where a list can really help.
Lists are often easier to create than writing prose. Think about your story or chapter topic. It may be hard to sit down and write a narrative. But you can probably come up with a bullet-point list of ideas about that topic.
Let’s say I want to write about the lessons my first full-time job taught me. If I wanted to write that as a book chapter or article, it would take a while to figure out where to start. I’d end up with lots of attempted starts, eventually get discouraged, and set the idea aside for later.
But what if I tried to just jot down a list of ideas. Not weighing their value or relevance but just writing them down. Hmm. What did that first job teach me?
- How to work with people.
- How to listen. (And it showed me I’m actually a good listener. At least when I stop talking.)
- How to come up with new ideas. (A skill that’s helping me make this list!)
- How to give a presentation.
- How to write a report.
- How to turn a mundane job into something interesting.
- The importance of work-life balance.
- That I can do more than I think.
- That I enjoy cross-cultural interactions. (I worked for a foreign company.)
That’s just my list for starters. If I took longer, I could come up with more items on the list. Doesn’t mean I would write about all of them. I might pick my top five lessons that I’d like to share with readers. Or see if any of the listed items converge into one bigger lesson.
The point is now I have a beginning, something to work with. I’m not staring at a blank page. Not searching for a direction.
My next step would be to choose some of those items on the list and write more about them. For each item on the list, I could answer questions like these:
- What did I specifically learn?
- Why was that an important lesson?
- How did it help me in the job? Or in my life in general? How does it help me today?
- What did that item look like in practice? What are some examples?
- Is there a particular story or moment I could share with readers to show them that lesson and how I learned it?
- How what I describe that lesson in more detail?
Do you see what I did there? I gave myself another list: questions that would prompt me to write more about each lesson.
Those lists become building blocks, helping you build your story or chapter one piece at a time. It’s a lot easier to add information about an item on a list than to try to create words out of thin air onto a blank page.
Eventually, you can take those expanded lists and smooth them into paragraphs for your readers. Or if you’re writing a short article, you can actually leave it in list form. List articles (often called listicles) are popular because they’re easy to read.
Writing lists is also a great way to exercise those writing muscles. Sometimes just the act of writing words and connecting them together stirs your creativity. Items on a list turn into sentences and paragraphs. Words begin to flow.
Regardless of where your writing takes you, a list is a great starting point. And it beats the blank page every time. Happy listing!
