With respect to Johnny Cash, who I’m pretty sure made a similar list in the liner notes of one of his albums although I cannot find it:

I like stories about (in no particular order):
being clever, championing lost causes, defying expectations, quests, samurai, magicians (stage), magicians (occult), soldiers, science, love, sex, death, loss, redemption, initiation, betrayal, teamwork, obsession, abuse, triumph in the face of adversity, defeat in the face of adversity, philosophy, privilege, noblesse oblige, condescension, rebellion, conformity, harrowing escapes, negation, subversion, sarcasm, angels, demons, God (literally), God (figuratively), religion, technology, the Holy Grail, talking animals, getting lost, wearing armor, gadgets, stories, pretension, perversion, myths, attraction (requited), attraction (un-), vigilantes, teenagers, loners, research, words, ideas, pictures, mutants, lawyers, mercenaries, con men, criminals, academics, explorers, cynics, bastards, dreamers, labyrinths and immortality.