title: Breaking txt file into list of lists by character and by row
body: <p>I am just learning to code and am trying to take an input txt file and break into a list (by row) where each row's characters are elements of that list.  For example if the file is:</p>
  
  <pre><code>abcde
  fghij
  klmno
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I would like to create </p>
  
  <pre><code>[['a','b','c','d','e'], ['f','g','h','i','j'],['k','l','m','n','o']]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have tried this, but the results aren't what I am looking for.</p>
  
  <pre><code>file = open('alpha.txt', 'r')
  lst = []
  for line in file:
      lst.append(line.rstrip().split(','))
  print(lst)
  [['abcde', 'fghij', 'klmno']]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I also tried this, which is closer, but I don't know how to combine the two codes:</p>
  
  <pre><code>file = open('alpha.txt', 'r')
  lst = []
  for line in file:
      for c in line:
          lst.append(c)
  print(lst)
  ['a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o']
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I tried to add the <code>rstrip</code> into the <code>lst.append</code> but it didn't work (or I didn't do it properly).  Sorry - complete newbie here!</p>
  
  <p>I should mention that I don't want newline characters included.  Any help is much appreciated!</p>