Lists:

I love lists. Many of my entries in my writer’s journal are lists.

I have lists of words I love, words I use too often, words I don’t know the meaning of, new words, favorite words to say, to read…just favorite words, good words, bad words. (I love bad words, they’re so…descriptive.)

 I keep lists of descriptive words, color words, action words, tag words, landscape words, plant words, texture words, scent words, emotion words.

I make lists of places to go, where I’ve been, stores to check out, character names, books to read, authors to check out, books I’ve read, books to buy and a favorite: lists of quotes. Lists of book quotes, writing quotes, garden quotes, encouragement quotes, pet quotes and just plain quotes.

Lists of wants, needs, wishes, to dos, dones, priorities, bills, titles or ideas for projects, projects, flowers and seeds to buy and grocery lists.

Memory lists, lists of things I need to include in each new writing project, lists that end up poems. All these lists end up in my journal in a nice vertical way with a bullet point at the beginning of each new line. The sight pleases me, eases my mind that I’m somewhat in control of all the chaos in my writer’s mind.

Lists organize my life, keep me straight on my tasks for the day, what I need to buy, what I need to write, research, things I need to think about, things I need to include in a piece I’m wirting. Lists help me push my mind to think of more, better, most important.

Lists jump starts my writing day, whether I use a list from my journal or make a new one.

I love to scratch off chores or groceries as I put them in my cart, titles I’ve used. No smart phone for me. I want the paper, the pencil, the line drawn across the page. I want simple, available, physical.

Lists are among my best writer’s tools and fit perfectly in my writer’s journal.