What Makes a Good List?

Lists can be a really fun way to share some information about a topic or to oragnize thoughts or ideas according to a category. They are short and easy to read and usually either make your reader laugh along with you, nod their head in agreement or give something a bit of thought.

Be careful though because a poorly written list is usually abandoned before it is finished if the reader cannot stay interested long enough. Here are a few ideas that LIST the qualities of a great list.

1.

Writing an Interesting List

Lists are fun and easy to write but there is a big difference between a grocery list and a list that shines a little insight into the person you are, the things you believe and what really matters to you. When you are writing a list as a literary genre, it is important to keep your audience in mind. You are informing your reader about something that they may or may not know about. If the reader does not know you or knows very little about you, they will need enough information from your list to understand the importance of your category.

Blurbs are an excellent way of making an otherwise boring list into something of a worthwhile read. For example: You are writing a list of your favourite colours. No offense, but most people don't really care what colours you like. If you add a reason or a description, however, then it can become a much more creative bit of reading.

My Favourite Colours

Red
Yellow
White
Green

This list can be made much more interesting with a bit of decription... in fact, even the title is more interesting...

The Colours that Inspire Me 

Red - It is bold and it stands out and demands to be noticed. What's not to love?

Yellow - The golden rays seep through my window and wake me by tickling my nose in the morning.

White - It is the colour of the handkerchief that my grandmother crocheted for me before she passed.

Green - My constant reminder that we are constantly in a state of growth.

Now this list may not be interesting to everyone, but there is a certain poetic quality that gives it more value than a list of random colours for no apparent reason.

The other interesting thing about lists is that they can have such an assortment of topics. You can make a list about absolutely anything that interests you. Some examples I have seen in my students' work in the past (but this is still a limited list - feel free to create your own) is included below:

The Top Ten Superpowers I Would Most Like to Have

The Dozen People I Would Love to Have Over for Dinner (Remember that a creative list does not limit you to people you already know. Imagine having dinner with Hitler so you could finally ask him what the heck he could possibly have been thinking to do what he did...)

The Five People I Would Like to Be For One Day (Your choices say a lot about you. I have seen rich and famous people on this list, but I have also seen a homeless person. Imagine what that might be like.)

The Eight Best TV Series of All Time

A Bucket List

Finally, remember that anyone can make a list, but when you add a personal touch to it, it becomes yours and yours alone. It can define you in some ways.

Credo

I have read the "Everything You Need to Know" essay many times over the last several years and I have never taken the time to sit down and write my own Credo. Finally, I am going to give it a shot. I will keep it as honest as I can so that in a few years, I can look back and reflect on who I was at the time and see if my thoughts and beliefs evolve as much as I do. Here goes..

1. I believe that we don't even come close to reaching the potential that is within our grasp.

2. I believe that I can learn anything I choose to learn, as long as I set my mind to it and work at it when it does not come easy.

3. I believe bullying is not only a school years problem. Some people never outgrow it and they bring it with them to the work place.

4. I believe that children sometimes know better than adults. As they age, they forget what they knew as a kid and slip into bad habits.

5. I believe youth is a treasure we don't appreciate until it is long gone. How I would love to have fun like a kid again.

6. I believe laughter is a cure for many things (sadness, loneliness, even some physiological diseases).

7. I believe running is a good way to empty my heart of worries while I take care of my body.

8. I believe there is a lot more beauty surrounding me than I acknowledge. It's a little like the "Take the time to smell the roses idea". We need to really look at what is in front of our eyes in order to see the beauty there.

9. I believe there is nothing more comforting than a disgustingly thick peanut butter and jam sandwich for supper.

10. I believe a little piece of heaven seeps into my dreams when I nap in the sunbeam that floods my living room on a Sunday afternoon.

Would it Kill Us?

After Reading Robert Fulghum's Credo, I am moved to look around and think about the world we live in. I mean, it's a pretty good place overall, but how easy would it be to make it even better? His first list reminds us that living a good life and being a good person is really very simple. In his second list, he points out that sometimes this is beyond our control and that outside forces make us adapt in ways we may not have forseen in the simpler list. With this in mind, I ask, "Would it kill us to..."

1. Smile at least once every day - knowing that we have so much to smile about?

2. Go out of our way to give at least one compliment to someone we care about?

3. Approach one person we don't know so well and greet them somehow?

4. Be responsible for our own actions?

5. Give a little more than we do to those who have less?

6. Take the time to represent ourselves a little better? I mean, how do we want to be remembered?

7. Keep our area clean? Whether at home, school or at work?

8. Make en effort to do our best work always?

None of these seem so difficult yet they are things that are not automatic. I believe that making the world a better place is as simple as these actions suggest. The hard part is getting everyone to buy into it. Now THAT just might kill us!

Lists, Lists, and More Lists

Making a list can be loads of fun, but often the hardest part is coming up with a great topic. We have had a couple brainstorming sessions to bring you some ideas to help get those creative juices flowing. Feel free to use one of the ideas in the list below or use them to inspire you to come up with other great list topics.

• Invent your own community and the rules you would choose.
• Survival Guide (for whatever you choose)
• How To... (Be as creative as you want with this one)
• Catch Santa
• Sell "something"
• Do Math in Outer Space
• Come up with a good homework excuse
• Get rid of your siblings
• Blow your nose when the class is silent
• Get out of chores
• Get out of going to mass
• Sneak out of jail
• Eat Doritos in a library 
• Find your "hidden" Christmas presents
• Trick your parents into...
• Read minds
• Know if Santa is Real
• Sneak stuff into ...
• Get on the Dr Phil show
• Make Bad News sound like Good News
• Get out of a dreary conversation
• Convince your teacher you've read a book
• Play an instrument
• What to do during an embarrassing moment
• Job Requirements (for the job of your choice)
• Excuses to get out of ...
• People I'd like to have dinner with
• People I'd Like to BE
• Things you probably don't know about me
• Top Ten List
• Reasons the Dodo is extinct
• Bucket List
• What to do when you're bored
• What to do when your brother annoys you
• List of useful paradoxes
• Superpowers I'd like to have

A Dozen Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

First of all, I would like to start off by telling you a few "little known" facts about me - things that you would not normally know just by being in my class...

1. I am the second in a family of 6 children. Being one of the oldest certainly had its advantages, but the example I had to set for the younger ones could cramp my style just as easily.

2. I studied the classical violin for 12 years, starting at the age of 4. By 11, I was certain I would one day be a concert violinist.

3. One of my obsessions as a child prompted me to become a teacher. Would you believe it has something to do with new school supplies every September?

4. I LOVE to read and I am never without a book. (OK, this one will be very obvious to you if you are in my class - or even in the same school.)

5. I have recently taken an interest in photography. I see the world so differently now that I can picture everything immortalized on film.

6. I would one day like to be a published writer. I'm certain there's a story in me that's itching to get out.

7. I love to laugh. Except when in church. My sister can certainly back me up on that one.

8. I have never had a cup of coffee in my life. Am I the only adult in the natural world that cannot stand the taste?

9. I ran my first half marathon last Jume. OK, I never in a million years thought I would be doing this in my lifetime, but it was amazing!

10. I would love to travel the Earth. There is far too much to experience in one lifetime and I am already so far behind!

11. When I read, I sometimes forget who I am. I experience guilt and shame, embarrassment and joy through the characters in the stories before I remember that I am not really there.

12. I was almost kicked out of a Bon Jovi concert for smoking pot. Just remember, things are not always as they seem!