Using Lists Effectively in Your Writing

A writer’s goal should be to follow the ‘A,B,Cs’ of good writing and be accurate, brief, and clear.  This can be a challenge when you have large amounts of information to present, but using bulleted or numbered lists can help. When should you use lists in your text?  Consider the following questions:

• Do you need to give instructions or directions?
• Do your sentences contain long lists of items that are separated with commas or semicolons? 
• Is your text packed with important, technical information in long paragraphs?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you should consider using bulleted or numbered lists to organize the information, setting it apart so it is easily viewed by the reader.

So that your reader understands your meaning, clearly introduce each list with a descriptive phrase or sentence followed by a colon.  You should use a numbered list when the order of items is important, such as in directions for operating equipment.  If the order of your list is not important, you can use any kind of bullets, as long as you are consistent. 

Consistency is key in keeping your lists easy to read and understand.  Your list items can be a single word, phrase, or complete sentence, but each should use the same grammatical form.  If list items are complete sentences, each should start with a capital letter and use sentence punctuation (like a period or question mark).  If list items are phrases or single words, acceptable punctuation and capitalization varies depending on the publication.  You can use either capital or lower-case letters to start each item and either commas or no punctuation to end each item, but at least be consistent! The following is an example of an inconsistent list:

Additives used in polyolefins include:

• Antioxidants, which protect the polymer from degradation

• UV stabilizers are used to protect against UV light.

• antiblocks prevent layers of film from adhering to eachother

• slip

Did you find the inconsistencies in the preceding example? The first bullet used a phrase consistent with the wording of the introduction. The second and third bullets used sentence forms, but one began with a capital letter and had ending punctuation. The fourth bullet was just one singular word!The following is one possible corrected, consistent version:

Additives used in polyolefins for film applications include:

• antioxidants, which protect the polymer from degradation;

• UV stabilizers, used to protect against UV light;

• antiblocks, which layers of film from adhering to eachother;

• slips, which reduce friction.

If a list item needs more than one or two sentences, you could consider breaking it into multiple points, using subheadings, or perhaps not using a list format.  Consider what format is easiest for the reader to follow without sacrificing accuracy.  While most of your text should still be in sentence and paragraph form, an occasional list will help you to be brief and clear, enabling you to better keep your reader’s attention.

by Jennifer Markarian ©2009

References:

Rosenberg, B. (2005). Spring into Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Alfred, G., Brusaw, C. and Oliu, W. (2006). Handbook of Technical Writing, 8^th ed. New York: St. Martin’s Press.