What I've Learned for Making Lists
I'm not the expert, but on the other hand after doing this 10-List Thing (as I think of it) for several years, I have found a few things that work well for me and seem to help my students. These are now adapted for NotePD. The added capability of commenting, not just having the list, and easily incorporating images into the list increases the impact on creativity exponentially.
1. Do it as fast as possible.
Even when posting in public where you care about what people read, generate the list quickly. You can always delete, edit, or add to the list later before you publish. Preserve the fresh thoughts and first responses as they emerge.
2. Fill in all the "titles" first.
In other words, do the part that used to be all there was to the kind of list James has taught us. Finish this first. Everything else comes from this.
3. Don't stop to judge it.
Just keep writing. Don't take the time to reject an idea. Just preserve it. Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. Fix all that later.
4. Ten is important.
Remember the prime purpose of a daily list is to exercise the idea muscle. The first three or four will come too easily. You'll likely hit a bump, but stick with it and three more will come out before hitting another bump or road block. Don't stop. Pushing through to 10 is where the real benefit comes in, in my experience.
5. Every day is important.
Consistency is more important than quality.
6. Don't worry about public/private. That comes later.
Don't forget this before you hit "Post." But you can decide whether a given list will be public or private, and you should do that after you create the list. If you are thinking "public" as you create, it will likely interfere with your creative process.
7. Make metalists.
Every so often, generate a list of possible lists for you to do at some point.
8. It's OK to pause (i.e., save a draft).
I try to follow the discipline of completing a list when I sit down with it, because of the "fresh thoughts" thing, and because of the need to stretch the idea muscle. But my life consists of a series of interruptions. It is rare for me to be able to complete anything when I start on it. While straight through is better, it's still better to create lists in spurts than to not create at all.
9. The last two are hard, but often the best.
This is not a given. As I said before, pushing through is important regardless, just because of the stretch. But very often I find the last two or three ideas will be the best. The earlier ones that come more easily may be too easy.
10. When you're finished with titles, write commentary and find images.
Writing commentary (the "Something" part of the site) is still creative, and you should treat it as such, i.e., don't stop to judge the comments, save spelling and other editing for later, don't worry about public/private, etc. But then you take off the writer's hat and put on the editor's hat. Only at that point should you worry about audience, structure, etc. If you're going to go public with the list, this is where you can put the real polish on the list. a number of people have been credited with some version of the saying, "All good writing is rewriting." a) This is true. b) They are two separate but complementary activities.
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