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Lists

Create lists to highlight or emphasize important information.

Create lists to improve readability also. Lists provide a breakup of paragraphs, which can help readers. Lists also provide whitespace to support easy access to information.

Create lists to present similarly structured items.

List guidelines

The following guides will help your lists to be correct, complete, and audience focused:

  • Make lists 2-8 items long: one item is not a list. Lists over 8 items may need breaking up.
  • Avoid overusing lists: lists are used for emphasis. Adding too many lists reduces emphasis.
  • Make list items parallel: as with headings, items in a list must follow the same structure to help readability.

List types

Three main list types are used in writing: sequenced lists, unsequenced lists, and labeled lists.

Sequenced lists

When you are telling the reader to do something in order, use a numbered list. The following list is an example of a numbered list:

Example sequenced list

To be able to put toothpaste on a brush, do the following actions:

  1. Unscrew the cap from the toothpaste
  2. Squeeze a pea-sized worth of toothpaste onto the toothbrush
  3. Brush your teeth using an up and down motion

The list must be followed in order (sequence) by the reader.

Non-sequenced lists

When you are presenting information that does not have to be in order (non-sequenced), use a bulleted list.

Example bulleted list

Here are the things you need to succeed when communicating by text:

  • audience awareness
  • purpose
  • structure

The items in the list have no order, so the reader does not have to follow them from top to bottom, unlike in a numbered list.

Labeled lists

A labeled list can also be called a Description list. Let's see the example list first:

Example labeled list

  • Bulleted list: items in a bullet list are not in sequence/order.

  • Numbered list: items in the list are in specific order (first, next, then). These kinds of lists are used for instructions where steps need to be followed to complete the actions.

  • Labeled list: each list item needs further explanation, so a label is added to the list item.

Each of the words in bold acts as a label for the information that follows. The label can be a definition (as above).

List formatting

All lists use a lead in, or introductory sentence. Two types of lead in can be used in your writing.

Lead in 1: a complete sentence

The lead in is a complete sentence that ends with a colon.

The items in the list start with capital letters and end with periods.

Complete sentence lead in

Criticisms of the Scrum software development process include the following:

  • It follows manufacturing too closely.
  • It has a name that comes from a sport.
  • It is not easily understandable as a term.

Lead in 2: an incomplete sentence

The lead in not a complete sentence, so no punctuation is used.

The items in the list start with lower case letters and use commas, an and, and a period to end.

Incomplete sentence lead in

Criticisms of the Scrum software development process are that it

- follows manufacturing too closely, 
- has a name that comes from a sport, and

- is not easily understandable as a term.

The key to list formatting is consistency. This consistency is found in the use of punctuation and use of upper and lower case.

In documentation, the complete sentence lead in is common. In workplace writing, both are common.