I love lists.
- Writing them
- Reading them
- Discovering them
- Inventing them
But: does list-writing make one a writer?
- No.
- Yes.
- Maybe.
- Who’s asking?
- What kind of list?
- B-list at best.
If writing is writing is writing, then list-making must count. And if it counts, I must be prolific. Why, I write every day
- Shopping lists
- to-do lists goals
- wish lists
- lists of things I want to do
- places I plan to go lists
- lists of possible baby names
- resolutions
- resolutions I have broken thus far
- daily calorie lists
- lists of two-letter words and q-without-u words, for Scrabble
My lists appear on
- envelopes
- napkins
- the backs of receipts
- school newsletters
- inside book jackets
- phone bills
Although my lists are not clever top-10 lists like David Letterman’s, or fascinating fact-filled lists like Harpers Index, or quirky but useless lists like “the top 10 currencies no longer in circulation,” I don’t just make lists listlessly. Creating them is like quilting my life. And discovering other people’s lists is a secret joy. Like the faded list, in loopy handwriting, of “Appetizer Ideas” I found in my grandmother’s cookbook:
- Broiled grapefruit
- Melon ball cocktail
- Sea food cocktail
- Pastry snails
- Dried beef rolls
- Silver dollar hambugers
- Bacon wrap-arounds
- Herring-Appleteaser
- Savory mushroom dip
- Hot cheese puffs
Or the:
- Halloween costume ideas list in my brother’s yearbook.
- “Boys I’d kiss” list in the back of my sister’s drawer.
- “Super-powers I Want” list in my son’s math book.
- Anniversary Gift List in my husband’s wallet
Making a list is not only one way of organizing one’s thoughts—it also stimulates the imagination. The vertical nature of a list draws the reader’s (and the writer’s) eye down, rather than across the page. I believe this encourages reading between the lines.
simply
because
there
are
more
lines
to
read
between.
I found lots of reading between the lines in this fictional “List of Chores”:
Daily:
- Make bed.
- Pick up clothes.
- Feed bird.
- Take fresh water and scraps to Dad.
- Unload dishwasher.
- Sweep kitchen floor.
- Do homework.
Weekly:
- Vacuum bedroom.
- Clean bathroom (yes, scrub toilet!)
- Shovel attic floor.
- Check status of Missing Person’s Report (on-line is fine).
- Mow lawn.
- Change Dad’s bandages.
- Recycling.
- Clean bird cage.
Lists of all kinds stimulate my imagination, give shape and order to random thoughts, and help me cut through writers’ block.
Lets face it: what writer doesn’t secretly hope she might one day see her own name on a Best-Seller List?
