The Benefits of List Poems

I hate prompts. I always feel as though my writing suffers if I have to contort myself around things like, "You walk into a bar and see a family of mice drinking Scotch. Go!" I never end up with anything I'm fond of or would like to salvage in my own work.

If I get stuck, I like to muse on the page, or do a couple of character/thought-experiment exercises that don't involve writing as much as thinking, or read/write fanfiction and work on the concepts around my block. Only rarely will the most generalist of prompts incite me to actual good writing. Thus, I faced the idea of a 'list poem' with cynicism. "Besides the obvious," I thought, "can this really say much?"

Now, a list poem isn't a prompt as much as it is a poetic form--or a flash fiction, if you like! The premise is simple: you take a list and imbue it with the power to tell the story, the essence of all creative writing. The goal, I think, is to make a narrative arc without being too cheap or giving it away too easily. For instance:

Mat's Shopping List

• engagement ring
• wedding photographer
• divorce lawyer

Seems a bit tawdry and on the nose, right? Try:
​
​Mat's Shopping List

• blue garter
• lover's suite
• eharmony membership

Despite being something I created extemporaneously, now we're getting closer to something that signals marriage and divorce without also signaling our audience's groans. I hope to not invoke any groans once my list poems are ready, but I'll be sure to blame the writer and not the form if I do!