When I was a tech writer for DEC, I was taught the importance of a bulleted list. The best lists have 7 – 9 (no more) items in them. All of the list items must have agreement (parallel phrasing) Lists must have a lead sentence that introduces the items, you use numbers for a process or something that is sequential, and bullets for a group of like objects.
Yup got that. 
I saw the beauty of a bulleted list. It made it easy to see what belonged, it got rid of the fluff. A list got right to the point. People wanted me to use bulleted lists in my tech writing.
And so I did. My editors liked it, my writing got published and everyone was happy.
I fully embraced the use of these literary tools. In fact, I got so good at bulleted lists that during my days as a tech writer, I would send letters home that read:
Dear mom,
These are the things I want to tell you about:
- Bullet item 1
- Bullet item 2
- …
Tech writing had pretty much killed my feature and creative writing skills, but it made me be able to get right to the point.
When I started writing for newspapers, they broke me of the bullet habit pretty quickly. News writing is not tech writing I was told over and over (and over.) Drop the bulleted lists and drop them now.
I did as my audience wanted. I wrote long sentences that contained all the list items separated by commas and the very important “and” right before the last item. My editors liked it, my writing got published, everyone was happy.
But a funny thing has happened to writing over the years. Now that so many people read information on the net (and when I say read, I really mean scan) they don’t have time to plow through those long sentences. They want me to do the work for them by putting those important facts and pieces of information up front and center.
In short, they want me to write bulleted lists for them.
There is beauty in a bulleted list. It makes it easy to see what belongs, it gets rid of the fluff. A list goes right to the point. People want me to use bulleted lists in my online writing.
And so I do. My editors like it, my writing gets published and everyone is happy once again.
***
Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons.
Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens).
Okay, these are the reasons I like being a writer, the job gives me:
- freedom
- creativity
- a way to express myself
- sanity in my own insane way
- a chance to leave something behind should I ever get lost
Bullet photo credit: Longhorndave
Wow , Wendy I always wanted how to write but my writing is terrible , how did you started ?
Thanks JASS
I’ve always been a writer. I was the type of kid who wrote story after story after story. I studied journalism in college and was a tech writer for a computer company for far too long. I started my career as a journalist over 10 years ago.
The best way to be a writer is to write. Trust me, it sounds easier than it is. Write every chance you can (don’t worry if you think it stinks, just write.) Start a blog, volunteer for a local newspaper to cover events, write a letter to the editor.
In the same way that any athlete gets better, practice, practice, practice.
Let us know how it goes.
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
• Love the writing of this post.
• Love the point of this post.
• Love making lists!
Warmly,
Diane
Diane,
Love your comment
Wendy
Hi Wendy -
I couldn’t agree more. If I could fashion a career out of List Making, I do believe I would have found my life’s calling! I have notebooks littered with them. When I find one, it’s like finding an old picture album.
Rex
Rex,
So true. I am a die-hard list maker. I’ve even trained the kids to make a to-do list every weekend (we tape them to the wall in the living room so that we are all accountable for our progress.) I like your analogy of a list to a picture album, they certainly are a snapshot in time.
Lists are a beautiful thing.
Wendy
Super helpful. Do you still stick to the 7-9 items rule?
Thanks for the post.
Good question.
No, that 7-9 rule was left over from something called Information Mapping. I think that these days a good list is 3 – 7 (some people think that 7 is the ideal number while I tend to hover around 5)
Wendy
Wendy, here is what I enjoyed best about this post:
+ sharing your brand of insanity
+ finding the crumbs of your wisdom leading me to your last known location
+ affirmation of the value of tech writing
Well done, job well done there.
Wendy
I write resumes for high tech hardware and software engineers, architects, etc. for a day and a half a week (the “day” job) and use bullet lists. As a staff writerr for a home improvement site I also write listed articles.
I understand the value of a list – I organize my life by them – but nothing feels better than sitting down to write a creative piece! Life is messy. Gotta love at least a little bit of chaos. Otherwise, if everything is neat and un-fluffy, it would lead to boredom.
There is room for both, they each teach us lessons. But if I had to choose between them….hands down for the non-bulleted writing approach!
Laura,
There is no exclusivity with bulleted lists. It is simply another tool to use when writing.
If we only had bulleted lists in which to communicate, we wouldn’t have:
*creativity
*soul
*warmth
and perhaps most importantly,
*The Princess Bride
Wendy
Always the Princess Bride…which, by the way, since you mentioned it in a post awhile back, I put on my list of “To Read” books!
Bulleted lists are great when used properly, that’s for sure. A list with only 2 items always makes me cringe. But they’re also good tools for writing humor through the non-sequitur or breaking with convention. The punch line is practically written for you. See above.
Thanks for this post! My day job requires me to write in a style that is direct, boring and not even a tiny bit creative. So in my downtime, I try to avoid bullets because I feel they’re stifling. But you make some good points here and I plan to be more open minded about bullet lists. They can be useful when used correctly.
Fun and informative!
I am writing an article at the moment, where I have included bullet points – though they may be an Info Box in the end.
Bullets can be easy to read. I find it tedious reading through a sentence listing so many items. There should be a rule: up to 3 items can be in a sentence, anything beyond that should be listed appropriately!
I love writing and have just started by blogging. I am a beginner, a complete novice and wonder who I think I am to even attempt such a thing.
I am writing a play for some reason. I have a serious problem with the shakes.
I read the honey badger and agree you have to be fearless. I think because I don’t have formal training I don’t know about structure and stuff.
Finding time to sit and write is pretty difficult at the moment too.
Any advise?