THE FOUR LISTS

Write 4 Lists. These four:

#1 APPRECIATIONS

#2  STORIES I CAN TELL

#3  STORIES FROM OTHERS

#4  OPINIONS

Why?

Glad you asked. By writing these four lists you have the raw material for many writing and speaking assignments. List #1 relates to expository writing, #2 and #3 are lists of narratives that you can tell, and #4 is a point of departure for persuasive and argumentative writing.

It’s easy to get stuck, or struggle to start. You may find yourself staring at the cursor, looking at a blank page. After you have these four lists, which grow and grow if you let them, you always have a place you can start when you need to speak or write about something.

The lists are points of departure, prewriting, brainstorming, and a way to never have to start completely from scratch. The lists can also grow and grow and grow. If you start talking to someone, or start writing, or reading, or just looking around I think you’ll notice that you do like a lot of things, and you do have a lot of stories you could tell, and there a lot of things you’ve heard that are interesting, and you do have opinions. When you notice this, add those items to the list.