When in doubt, make lists (and shuffle them)

A “Mr Fox” reference, not an inspirational quote (except to the extent &c…)

Making lists (or decks, or the idea of a deck, or self-shuffling Excel documents) of common elements is a very soothing procrastination activity.

I’ve made them of favourite lines, key tropes, patterns I’ve noticed in my own working habits, images I return to, favourite stories I like to use as narrative myths/templates, art styles — even just parallels between a set of books recently read (here, boarding school mysteries).

They’re a pleasant way to test what you already know, and to analyse what you love.

In case you were interested, the source texts were primarily: Murder Most Unladylike — Robin Stevens; Cat Among the Pigeons — Agatha Christie; The Hippopotamus Takes Wing: A Farrago — Simon Oke; and Picnic at Hanging Rock — Joan Lindsay.

They are also useful for all sorts of games and ways of knocking ideas against each other until they give off sparks.

Below is an experiment where I used a list for quite another purpose from its original intention. The list was a set of notes I’d made on things to strengthen in my own writing. But instead, I used the items as parameters for a quick set of repeating pattern ideas — and of course those turned into yet another set of card ideas (among other things).

You can of course buy or repurpose pre-made kits (story dice, Dixit cards, Tom Gauld’s plot generators, etc). But sometimes just the making is the illuminating part of the exercise.

Writing/art activities:

• See also the activities on the post: This is not a deck of cards (tropes and process).
• Make a list (slips of paper, spreadsheet, etc) of any of the following that appeal (try to make it a good long list — at least 10):
  • Tropes you particularly enjoy (today)
  • Favourite styles
  • Common elements in your favourite books/illustrations
  • Your favourite stories/stories that most resonate with you (that you keep recommending, or coming back with, or playing in your own work)
  • Media or subgenres you work in (or would like to)
  • Favourite poems
  • Favourite adjectives
• Draw three items from your list at random, and (alone, or with friends if you enjoy argumentative conversations) apply them to:
  • A project (a short story? an illustration?) you’d like to do
  • Someone else’s story or illustration (can you reinterpret it through the lens of those cards, or make a mashup or adaptation?)
  • Something completely unrelated, e.g. what you should have for dinner (actual conversation: “we can’t go out for sushi because…. apparently there’s a high chance we’ll be intercepted by time-travelling ninja pirates”), how to rearrange the bookcases, etc.