Happy Birthday! The Wild and Wonderful World of Word Lists!

Frida Kahlo born on July 6, 1907
So this is a seemingly random posting that will show you that I am not at all tech savvy but that I am creative within my limited skillset! Today, July 12th, I am teaching a Richard Hugo House class on, you guessed it, The Wild and Wonderful World of Words Lists. These lists become my best friend when I am writing; they are useful in dozens of different ways.

I'm including if I can, a link to the handout on how to construct a word list and how it can be useful.
Let's see if I can post a connection to it Wild World of Word Lists . Oops -- not working yet. So why not just make it easy?


The Wild (and Wonderful) World of Word Lists

Why use a word list?
To jump yourself out of your default vocabulary (globe, blue, world, cream).
To create an extended metaphor --- all words about cars or dogs or water.
To make your writing more surreal
To focus closely on the language  of one subject  (anatomy, photography, cats)
When writing on a specific subject such as film (jump cut, cant angle, montage, establishing shot)


Ways to Construct a Word List

Take the last word of every line of a poem and write towards that word.
Keep a basket of words on your desk, in your living room, even the bathroom!
Notecards (keep notecards with a dozen unconnected words and one directive)
Look over the spines on your bookshelf, what catches your eye?
Look at the titles of books in a bookshop; Pegasus is posting photos of their shelves.                 
Other Sources:
Your subconsciousYour friends/students subconscious
Online Resources:
John Muir’s Lost Words Dictionary https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/assets/000/002/830/LOST_WORDS_Explorers-Guide_pages_original.pdf  Random generated lists: https://www.randomlists.com/random-verbs
Thesaurus: https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/beautiful