Making a list, checking it twice…

Lists

As a general rule, I’m kind of haphazard when it comes to lists. Oh, I’ll write down the things I need to pick up from the grocery store so I don’t forget. I create playlists for my music. And I’ll make a chore list when my husband and I set out to complete major home-related tasks. I keep track of the books I’ve read on my Goodreads lists. I write down how much money I spend, where I spend it, and why. And I often find torn bits of opened envelopes covered in jigger-jotted nonsense that – I’m sure – meant something to me at one time (because I wrote it down!) but that I’m at a loss to decipher when I come across it weeks/months later.

Mental lists… Those, I make. But those lists are a bit like a low-powered app that just constantly runs in the background on an electronic device; they don’t wear down my battery, they rarely need to be addressed or backed up, and they are so “everyday” that they don’t serve any particular purpose. Things like, “start a new cycle in the washing machine before you leave the house” and “feed the cat” (I miss my cat…) are so autopilot that — while yes, they are Things On The List — they don’t really count.

But checklists for daily tasks? Outlines for business-related endeavors? Idea lists for things to do on vacation or restaurants to try?

Nope.

And those famed “lists of things to write about” that are supposed to be oh-so-helpful when you’re not feeling creative?

Nope. Nope, I do not have one of those.

I could make one though.

And that, I think, is exactly what I will do – right now – with you.

Things I Could Write About If I Felt Like It

First, let me just say this:

There are a lot of things I could write about. There are some things that maybe I should write about. But there are also things that – while there are plenty of words to be composed on the topic – I just will not write. Because, reasons.

But they are all *things* nonetheless.

Write-able things.

Maybe I just haven’t gotten around to writing them yet; maybe they are things I just haven’t felt up to writing. Perhaps they are overly involved or too revealing or would require me to tell someone else’s story and I avoid the topics for those reasons. Maybe I haven’t yet figured out how to approach the topic (this is why I like writing prompts; they are so often the ‘switch’ that turns the writing light on) or am concerned about hurting people’s feelings.

Or maybe I’m just fucking exhausted by life and the deterioration of human goodness and this goddamn pandemic and the excessive screen time that is zombie-fying the world as a result, so I actively choose to do ANYTHING ELSE besides sit at a keyboard and stare at a screen.

Ahem.

A n y w a y

I just wanted to put that out there because I think I’m not alone in being not-so-keen on writing right now. But I also think that sometimes it’s easy to say “I’ve lost my mojo” or “I have writer’s block” or “I’ve run out of things to write about” when really, that’s total bullshit.

You’re probably not writing – if you’re not writing – because YOU DON’T WANT TO.

Because if you actually wanted to, you would.

It’s not that “you’ve got nothin’.”

YES, there may be things holding you back from putting your ideas on the page. But NO — unless you’ve stopped living — you definitely haven’t run out of things to write about.

So with that in mind, here are 4,327,059 (okay, not really; there are only 52) ideas I’ve had — one for every week of the year — that you are welcome to borrow if that whole no-mojo thing is happening:

In no particular order…

1. FAMILY: I live far far away from them for very good reasons, but there are also compelling reasons to rethink that
2. Choosing not to repeat history — let’s look at my mother’s marriages, shall we?
3. My sister’s kids… I have some concerns about how they are being raised
4. PETS: my history with animal rescue
5. I miss my cat. Did I mention that? I still look for him sometimes, like, “Where’s Wallace?” Then I’m like, Oh…
6. Home renovations are a thing. Because, cat.
7. Why I am avoiding buying a new computer
8. I am not avoiding buying shoes, however — I have somehow acquired like 50 pairs (I think I might have a problem)
9. I have an amazing T-shirt collection too, by the way
10. Hmmm… ‘Collecting’ is probably something worth analyzing, given my parents’ hoarding tendencies
11. My parents are getting old — I have concerns
12. *I* am getting old
13. My husband is older than me and therefore he is the one who got old first — perhaps we should discuss his 40-year warranty
14. Or his “Man Diet”
15. Or all the various ways his successful kidney transplant has changed our lives
16. He has a libido again; I don’t
17. The history of our mismatched libidos… Is that even interesting?
18. PCOS and its effect on all things sex/ual, including being a factor in the aforementioned mismatch
19. My experience with taking hormones
20. Skin issues
21. Weight management
22. Pajamas are favorite clothes to wear
23. MONEY: People who should have more than enough (because they earn more than enough) are always broke — this is a mindset problem
24. Practical tips for budgeting
25. Companies I refuse to spend money with
26. Brands I’ve found over the past eight months that I really like
27. What I’ve done to put extra cash in my pocket over the past five months
28. The whole idea of monetizing your blog and how I feel about that, both as a blog reader and a blog writer
29. Blogs I’m reading on the reg
30. Books I’ve read this year
31. Authors whose writing inspires me, even if their personalities or personal beliefs don’t
32. I have a project idea based around the whole concept of Inspiration — I may or may not flesh that out any time soon
33. I have no use for modern movies. Let’s talk about vintage Hollywood!
34. Sean Connery
35. Icons
36. Do you remember what (or who) was hip/cool/groovy when you were a teenager?
37. First Times
38. Endings
39. Figuring out where we go from here… in all the ways…
40. Fishing
41. Phishing
42. Petty pin-ups
43. Poly problems
44. I should probably work some more on that coming-out-as-trans post I started with my LDR and his (adult, trans) kid
45. Christmas traditions
46. Bookstores
47. Montana
48. My husband and I just started a new business. In the middle of this pandemic. Yes, really.
49. Who decided that ugly Christmas sweaters should be a thing? My Christmas sweaters are all super cute! Wanna see?
50. The lost art of writing letters
51. That email exchange with that one guy that lasted for years
52. Eenie-meenie-mynie-mo — whatever you want to write, here: _______________

Seriously, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO WRITE.

It’s your blog.

(Well, this blog is not your blog. This blog is my blog. But you know what I mean.) 😉

Do whatever you want with it.

For those of you who are feeling ‘meh’ or are otherwise screentimed-out — If you need to take a break: take it.

But if you have an idea — any idea, whether it ‘fits’ your {perceived} genre/niche/audience-expectations or not — take it and run with it.

My two cents.

For what it’s worth. 🙂

Do you keep a list of ideas for writing?

What kinds of topics attract your interest?