Why I love lists

Three reasons to love lists

If you’ve done any of my courses you probably know that I love lists. Lists are great for writers three reasons:

1. They get you over fear of the blank page – once you’ve begun it’s easier to continue.
2. They seriously scupper the efforts of ‘the judge’ – the critical voice in your head telling you that your writing won’t amount to anything.
3. You can use them to collect words based on your intimate observations of the world around you and mine them later when you come to write.

Lists let you off the hook. They don’t have to make sense or tell a story, they are simply collections of words. I’ve made some list exercises available for download. You’ll find them here. (They’ll download as a PDF and should land in your downloads folder.)

A DIY writing course with a difference

And talking of lists, here’s a list of seriously inspiring blog posts (so people tell me!) that will help make your writing sing. Think of them as a DIY writing course with a difference.

Why you should take time off if you want to get serious about your writing

Find a time and a place to write

Freewriting, close observation, live writing and list games

Turning up is more important than learning the ‘rules’

Is your writing goal too small?

Chandler and Chekhov’s writing rules

How to write about place

How to plan a novel

The benefits of sitting still

Please show these posts some love and leave a comment if you enjoy them.

More soon. Until then, happy writing,

Louise