Remind Me To Write That Down!

Good afternoon, followers! The new word of the week is chary, which means heavily cautious or hesitant about dangers and risks. It can also mean slow to gain or give. It comes from the Middle Ages, when "chary" meant "sorrowful," dating back to the Old English version of the word, "caru" (an early form of "care," and another word that originally meant "sorrow"). Wow! I guess even the word for sorrow had a sad beginning/origination.

Anyway, today's blog post is about lists. You may be thinking, "Lists? What does that have to do with writing?" But it does! Not only is writing a list, well, writing, but it also helps you to formulate thoughts and get inspiration. I make tons of lists in my writing journal: likes, dislikes, things to do, memorable events (sad, happy, tragic, etc.), everything. It can be about anything. You can even write a list in the form of your character to get to know them better and see what they might think about.

Here's a sample list. I wrote about things I like.

Sleeping in darkness
Bubble baths
The beach
Tea with honey
Music
Singing, especially in the shower
The color purple (not the play)
Theater (Drama Club and Broadway)
Writing – fiction
Making cards
Using colorful pens
Making people laugh and smile
Flowers – scent and appearance
Traveling
Spring
Eating seafood
Dressing up and wearing jewelry
Dessert, especially chocolate
Sunshine
Dark chocolate
Maraschino cherries
Licking cake/cookie/brownie batter
Chips Ahoy in the microwave
Romantic movies and novels
Penguins
Star-gazing
Harvest moons
Getting a back rub or foot massage
Organization
Calm
Evening
The Sun
White clouds
The daytime
The sound of crickets at night
Watching a thunderstorm
Stars
Blue
Nature
My bedroom
Warmth

You should also include the date, since sometimes you can look back and be like "Oh, I might have been thinking with this in mind because this happened that day." Certain events put people, as well as characters, in different moods. People's thoughts also change often, sometimes each day, so it's interesting to look back on old lists. Maybe a year from now I'll think the sound of crickets chirping is annoying. Perhaps there's an event that caused me to think that way, like I was bit by a cricket or something (I'm not sure if that's possible, but bear with me here). Throughout the story, your characters develop and, although they may think the same way, they could have very different beliefs than when the story began. It's kind of like watching your character grow up.

Well that's all for today, bloggers! I hope you enjoyed today's post. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...

Question: Do you make lists? Either for writing or for other things in life?