The List Story:

Creating Narrative through Objects

Ah, the list story. We, as a people, love making lists, love breaking things down into smaller chunks, into categories, into things we can say we've accomplished or gathered. A general accounting of things, feelings, dreams, and goals is satisfying to whatever itch arises in our brain. A story is another way of organizing and structuring our thoughts, experiences, hopes, and fears; therefore, it seems natural to combine lists with narrative. However, the problem arises when the list itself fails to provide us with the window, mind, or motivation of a character, when the words are merely words and lack any further connotations or deeper meaning. If characters are often revealed through their actions, then how do we make something static, like a list, come alive and immerse us in the experience of a character's life or moment? That is the risk and the challenge of using this format to create a satisfying story. And in like a lot of the pieces we’ve looked at in this club, that is a question each reader will have to ask themselves: is this a story? Is it satisfying? Does it have a sense of stakes and tension that lights up my brain? Do I care?

We’ll start by examining “Act As If” by Miriam Gershow, as it employs a traditional flash word count.

Of the two stories, the first uses an opening paragraph before the list, as the title doesn’t provide insight into the story structure, unlike the second story. The opening offers a context for why the story is constructed from a list.

In the bottom of Zadie’s purse, as she sits in a lightly upholstered chair at the DMV to get her license reinstated, everyone packed in side by side by side, Zadie number 23 with number 72 currently being served:

We are provided with pertinent information, such as the name of the character, her location, the reason she is there, and why she might be waiting a while. This information serves to highlight the story's unusual formatting and the necessity of the wait. The context allows us to fill in some of the white space, as we’ve all been waiting somewhere like the DMV before. With this unwanted extra time, we might start to take stock of the items in our wallet, pocket, or purse.