avatarGalit Birk, PhD

Summary

The author expresses a personal aversion to listicles, viewing them as creatively restrictive, but challenges themselves to write one without compromising their spirit of spontaneity and self-expression.

Abstract

The article "5 Reasons I Don’t Write Listicles" delves into the author's dislike for listicles, considering them as limiting to creativity, self-expression, inspiration, connection, and transformation. Despite this, the author undertakes the task of crafting a listicle that aligns with their passion for writing from a place of vulnerability and authenticity. They advocate for infusing personal wisdom and unique voice into writing, even within the structured format of a list, to inspire and connect deeply with readers. The author encourages writers to push beyond perceived limitations of listicles to achieve a transformative experience for both the writer and the audience.

Opinions

  • Lists as Creativity Constraints: The author feels that lists impose a rigid structure that stifles the natural flow of creativity, leaving little room for personal interpretation or adventure in reading.

  • Self-Expression and Personal Power: Writing is seen as a deeply personal process that allows the author to explore and express their innermost feelings, leading to self-discovery and empowerment.

  • Inspiration Beyond Lists: The author seeks to be emotionally moved by writing and reading, questioning how a list can evoke such a response and suggesting that inspiration can be found by inviting readers to engage with the content in a more meaningful way.

  • Connection Through Shared Experiences: The author values writing as a means to connect with others through shared human experiences, believing that genuine connection is fostered by authentic storytelling.

  • Transformation Through Writing: The author believes that writing should challenge both the writer and the reader, leading to a transformation in thinking and experiencing the world. They see the potential for listicles to invoke emotion and provoke thought, despite their structured nature.

  • Challenging the Norm: The author encourages themselves and other writers to push the boundaries of what a listicle can be, to infuse it with creativity, and to use it as a tool for self-expression, inspiration, connection, and transformation.

5 Reasons I Don’t Write Listicles

Challenging myself to write outside my comfort zone

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

I don’t like lists. They don’t motivate me. They don’t inspire me. They don’t move me emotionally nor into action. Lists are boring to me.

I am spontaneous. I am a dreamer and an adventurer. I see creativity as limitless; capped only by our fears and perceived limitations.

I see a world where anything is possible, far beyond any list. I want to break through the list to where words come together in any form they like, invoking feeling as they dance around the page.

I want to challenge myself to write the esteemed listicle without losing touch of my spirit; the living breathing energy that brings my words forth into being.

Here are some reasons I don’t like to write listicles and some ideas on how to do so without losing our creative spirit.

1. Creativity: lists constrict creativity

Lists make me anxious for I feel as if there is something explicit I am meant to acquire from them, and there is little choice, nor agency, in the experience.

Lists feed me what they want me to absorb and I am meant to oblige. But what if I don’t want to? What if I want to put a creative spin on words read, to interpret as it fits for me? Is there room for that kind of freedom in the consumption of a list? Can the writer take us on an adventure that we can experience within us?

Try this: write a list about something you are deeply passionate about or new thinking or ideas. Ask questions to invite the reader to engage with the writing. Maybe infuse quotes or poetry into the list? Make it uniquely yours.

2. Self-expression: lists limit our experience of self-expression

I write from the inside out; transparent and vulnerable, sharing of myself with the world, coming to know myself through the process of putting pen to paper (or rather fingertips to keys).

I heal as I engage through deep self-inquiry in my writing be it on lost love, resilience, or a breakup in the midst of a pandemic; exposing the innermost places of my heart and emerging strong through the process itself.

I find my personal power as I share my life struggles through divorce for example, as well as my path towards empowerment and self-love.

I bring presence to my everyday experiences of mothering my two beautiful children and I explore my hopes and dreams for them in their process of becoming, and mine as well.

I see writing as my full self-expression in the world; it makes me feel human and alive. Can we as writers fully express what is emerging inside for us within the bounds of a list, unleashing our innermost selves while still providing the information gathering the reader of the listicle expects of us? Perhaps we can.

Try this: As you write your list of that which you are passionate about, bring your whole self to the process. Rather than simply imparting information, think about bringing your wisdom, your unique voice, and your intimate self into your delivery. Practice different voices and forms of expression.

3. Inspiration: lists don’t usually touch or move us

I want to be moved through both my writing and my reading. Unless I am looking for specific information on something particular, I want to have an experience.

Inspiration, for me, is that thing that makes my heart smile and moves me into action, that gets my inquiry juices flowing, that has me spring out of bed in the morning and that has me sit in front of my computer and pour my heart out into it. How can we inspire anything in anyone through a mere list of information, as useful as it may be?

Perhaps there is indeed a way, however, to alter the ordinary into something that moves us. What if we invite the reader and the writer alike, to dig for that which inspires them, to make lemonade out of lemons, and to find the silver linings even in the seemingly mundane?

Try this: Seek to inspire the reader to engage with your writing in new ways beyond the comfort zone; his and yours. Spice up the listicle with your wisdom despite what you think the rules are; make up your own rules.

4. Connection: lists lack the richness of human experience

I write to be known as I am: perfectly imperfect. I share my truth of being and my journey of becoming, giving my words wings, because I deeply believe that sharing of ourselves connects us. I connect with my own experience as well as with my readers through shared experience and though parallel journeys of self-inquiry. We connect through our lived experiences, through shared meanings, through that which challenges us, differentiates us and bonds us, through words that invoke emotion.

Through words, we see and can be seen, truly and completely, if we are willing to open our hearts for the benefit of another; making a difference as we too come alive. Can we experience deep meaningful connection in the listicle? Is there room within the confines of the list for such magical intangibles?

Try this: Tap into your heart and make room for what’s inside within the list; infuse yourself.

5. Transformation: Can the listicle provide this deep experience?

Transformation is the coming about of something new that was not there before; a new way of thinking, being, experiencing, relating to, and engaging with the world. As I write I am changed by the experience and I hope that my readers too are challenged to think differently or inspired into action.

Transformation happens when we are confronted with new truth that shakes our current way of knowing; that alters our sense of possibility.

I am changed by the power of words to the extent that they invoke emotion within me; shake me to my core, confront me, or fill my heart with a new sense of peace and joy that was not there before. My greatest accomplishment as a writer is touching another’s soul in such a way that it makes a difference for them; this is essentially my greatest win in writing.

Try this: Bring presence into any writing, take risks, and be bold. Endure the struggle with your writing, for it is here that we come to know our true selves and to discover new possibilities.

Summary:

  • Dare yourself to color outside the lines with your writing; play around with your creative freedom.
  • Dare yourself to bring the extraordinary into the ordinary; think creative self-expression.
  • Dare yourself to seek new sources of inspiration and to unearth the magic in the mundane.
  • Dare yourself to create intimate shared meanings and seek connection wherever you are.
  • Dare yourself to seek fear as a catalyst for transformation, for new possibilities, and to bring forth your gifts no matter the circumstance.

Hope you enjoyed my first-ever listicle! How did I do?

Writing
Listicles
Self Improvement
Self-awareness
Growth
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