Working with Lists
Overview
This chapter by Suzan Last, focuses on document design. It specifically speaks to working with various types of lists. The topics in this resource provide the appropriate use of and formatting for lists in documents.
Working with Lists
Working with Lists
Lists, when used correctly, can be a writer’s—and reader’s—best friend. Lists allow you to place emphasis on important ideas. They also increase the readability of text by simplifying long sentences or paragraphs and adding aesthetic passive space to make reading more pleasant. However, using the wrong kind of list or poorly formatting a list can create confusion rather than enhance readability. Therefore, it is important to understand the various types of lists and how and why to use them.
General Rules for Making Lists
Adhere to the following guidelines when creating lists:
- Include between 2-8 items in a list. You must have at least two items in a list (or it’s not a list; it’s just an item). Avoid having more than 8 items in a list, as too many items can have the reverse effect. If you emphasize too many ideas, you end up emphasizing nothing. NASA recommends no more than 8 steps in an emergency procedure; more than 8 can be overwhelming in a crisis situation.
- Try to avoid splitting a list over two pages if possible.
- Avoid overusing lists. A list should always have explanatory text around it to indicate what this is a list of and why it is needed. A series of lists does not give a reader adequate information and context.
- Adjust spacing before, after, and within lists to enhance readability. Avoid having a list of information all scrunched up into a dense block of text; this defeats the purpose of enhancing readability.
- Capitalize the first letter of each list.
- Use parallel phrasing for each listed item (note that each item in this list starts with a verb that is bolded only to catch your attention, not as a style you must follow).
- Never use a heading to introduce a list.
Each kind of list is suited for specific purposes. All lists must conform to a set of rules of construction and formatting. Learning to use the Paragraph formatting tool in Word is crucial to designing effective lists.
Note: If you are making lists by hitting ENTER then TAB and then a dash, you are doing it wrong, and this will make future editing and maintaining readability very difficult if not impossible. Especially when writing documents collaboratively that will need extensive revision and editing, you must make sure to use the correct formatting tools.
Common Types of Lists
Just as bar graphs serve a different purpose than pie charts, different kinds of lists also serve different purposes. This section will describe when and how to use the following five commonly used types of lists:
- Bullet Lists: use when order of listed items is not important
- Numbered Lists: use when order is important, such as steps in instructions
- In-sentence Lists: use when you want to maintain sentence structure and paragraphing, and have a short list (2-4 items)
- Labeled Lists: use when the listed items require some explanation or amplification (like this one)
- Nested Lists: use when listed items have sub-lists (list within a list).
Bullet Lists
Bullet lists are the most commonly used kind of list. They are effective when
- You want to emphasize two or more items
- You can place the items in any order (no particular order is required)
- You want to add white space to your document to enhance readability.
Bullet list items should generally be short (a word or a phrase). If you find your bulleted items are longer than this, consider using another kind of list, such as a labeled list or a nested list.
Numbered Lists
Use numbered lists when the order of the listed items is important and ideas must be expressed in chronological order. For example, use a numbered list when you must enumerate a series of steps in instructions, or when you are introducing ideas that will be discussed in a certain order in the following text. If you have a list of more than 8 items, consider breaking up the list in two or more stages or categories (Steps in Stage 1, Steps in Stage 2, etc.).
Sample Numbered List
Revision of your document should be undertaken in 4 stages done in the following order:
- Check formatting for readability
- Review content to ensure the document contains all necessary information
- Edit sentence style and structure to ensure ideas are clearly and correctly expressed in a formal and precise manner
- Proofread for grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage errors.
Note: The 4 steps in the sample numbered list each begin with a verb (check, review, edit, and proofread), indicating what the reader should do, and the numbers indicate the order in which these steps should be performed.
In-Sentence Lists
Use in-sentence lists when you want to (a) keep paragraph style, (b) to avoid having too many lists on one page, and (c) when the list items are relatively short and can be expressed in a sentence clearly without creating a run-on. The previous sentence is an example of an in-sentence list. Note that a bracketed, lower-case letter introduces each listed item.
Typically, in-sentence lists have 2-4 items. Generally, avoid putting more than 4 items in this kind of list (unless they are very short), or your sentence might become difficult to read.
Labeled Lists
Use a labeled list when you are listing items that need further explanation. These can be bulleted or numbered. Start the list item with the word or term (the “label”), placed in italics (or bold) and followed by a colon. After the colon, write the explanation or amplification of the term or concept in normal body text.
Sample Labeled Lists (two formats)
The course assessment plan includes three main written assignments given in the following order:
- Report One: an internal proposal written in Memo format
- Report Two: an internal proposal written in Short Report format
- Report Three: A comparative recommendation report written for an external client in Long Report format.
The plan also includes two oral presentations:
- Presentation 1: Individual or pair presentation on a technical writing topic (worth 5%)
- Presentation 2: Team presentation giving a progress report on Report 3 (worth 10%).
Make sure the label portions (before the colon) are phrased consistently and either italicized or bolded for emphasis; try to make the explanations that follow roughly equal in length and detail.
Nested Lists
A “nested” list is a list-within-a-list or a list with sub-listed items. These can be useful for avoiding overly long bullet lists by categorizing items into sub-lists. Note the long bullet list on the left does not effectively categorize items, so emphasis is lost. The Nested List is more effective.
This is not an exhaustive list of the kinds of lists you may run across in your technical reading. These are simply the most common kinds of lists, and ones you should be able to identify and use effectively in your technical writing assignments to enhance readability.
A Note on Punctuating the End of List Items
Conventions for punctuating list items vary depending on the context. Legal writing tends to use more punctuation than technical writing (list items often end in semicolons and the final item is introduced by an “and”). In technical documents, because this style favors simplicity, you typically place a period only after the final item in your list. If each listed item has complete sentences within it, then you will place a period at the end of each list item. If you have a simple bullet list, you may omit the final period.
Integrating Lists into Body Text
Just as there are rules for constructing lists, there are rules for how to incorporate them into your text. Most importantly, a list must be introduced by a lead-in sentence (or partial sentence) that contains both a subject and a verb. Technical writers often use the expression “the following” somewhere in the lead-in sentence to clearly indicate that a list of items will follow.
If the lead-in is a complete sentence, it should end in a colon that introduces the listed items. If the sentence is not a complete thought, the lead-in should not end in any punctuation, and each listed item must be able to grammatically complete the lead-in sentence.
Example Lead-in Sentences for Lists
Complete lead-in sentence (ends in a colon)
The term design project must allow students to incorporate the following elements into their solution:
- Mechanical engineering principles
- Electrical engineering knowledge
- Software/programming basics.
Partial lead-in sentence (no punctuation after lead-in)
The term design project must allow students to design a solution using
- Mechanical engineering principles
- Electrical engineering knowledge
- Software/programming basics.
GRAMMAR TIP: One of the most common errors found in technical reports has to do with the introduction of lists and how these are punctuated. Here are some additional examples of how—and how NOT—to introduce lists.
Don’t use a colon before a list unless the introduction to the list is a complete thought, that is, an independent clause. Remember this rule: if you can’t put a period there, then you can’t put a colon there.
In some cases, a list might not be helpful and instead might just over-complicate your document. In such cases, list your ideas in sentence form, within the paragraph, as in the final panda example below. A page with too many lists looks like an outline instead of a coherently expressed series of ideas.
Pandas have the following traits: ☑
Common characteristics of pandas include: ×
| Pandas are: ×
Pandas are ☑
Pandas have black and white fur, eat a vegetarian diet, and can solve difficult problems. ☑ |
More on Formatting for Lists
Introductory Colons
After you've decided what kind of list to use, the next decision you’ll face is how to punctuate the statement that comes right before your list. Should you use a colon? A comma? Nothing?
If your lead-in statement is a complete sentence, use a colon at the end to introduce your list.
If your lead-in statement is a sentence fragment, don't use a colon.
Capitalization
After you've completed the introductory sentence, your next question will be whether to capitalize the first letter in the statements that come after your bullets, numbers, or letters. If your list item is a complete sentence, capitalize the first letter. If your list item is not a complete sentence, you can choose whether or not to capitalize the first letter; this is a style choice.
Punctuation
Next, you will need to decide what kind of punctuation to use.
If your list items are complete sentences, or if at least one list item is a fragment that is immediately followed by a complete sentence, use normal terminal punctuation: a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. When list items vertically, do not put commas or semicolons after the items, and do not put a conjunction such as and before the last item when you are listing them.
Parallelism
Make sure that all of your list items are parallel. Parallel means each list item should be structured the same way. They should all be fragments, or they should all be complete sentences. If you start one bullet point with a verb, then start every bullet point with a verb. Here's an example of a list that uses parallel construction:
For Professor Jones, a vacation involves:
- Attending lectures
- Reading books
- Seeing sights
Each bullet point is formed the same way.
On the other hand, even though the following list is grammatically correct, it's considered poorly written because the list items aren't parallel.
For Professor Jones, a vacation involves:
- Attending lectures
- Books
- Many trips to famous destinations
Again, that's an example of a poorly written list because the items are not parallel.
Final Note: when working with a table of contents, do not format it as a numbered list.
Technical Writing Essentials by Suzan Last is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
The Photo is licensed under CC
- Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)