7 Ways To Write With Numbered Lists
I’m guessing you’re familiar with the format of the numbered list. And I’m guessing you’re familiar with the reasons why they work: engaging attention, presenting ideas in bite-sized form, using the specificity of the number as a hook. But have you ever stopped to wonder how they help us write?
Not everyone’s a fan of numbered lists of course, and there are downsides to using them. They can become formulaic, even boring after a while – for both your readers and your writing self. If you only ever write them out as numbered lists or bullet points your writing will take on a jerky, staccato feel which can break rapport.
And last but not least you might find yourself obsessively composing numbered lists, yes, even in your sleep (or the bath)
Writing with numbers isn't just writing a list
Fortunately there are ways that we can use the power of the list without making it obvious that’s what we’re doing. You can use it as the frame for your work – intro, close and three paras in the middle. You can use a list to add headings – then take them away when the writing’s done. Or maybe jot down a numbered list of points (whether it’s 3, 5 or 7) then work them into a paragraph – or even a sentence.
All of those techniques will give your writing a structure, a rhythm, a satisfying sense of momentum – without your readers knowing how.
I’m not entirely sure how this works – and if any of you know please enlighten me! – but I think the pattern, rhythm and movement comes from the use of prime numbers. That’s why you see 3, 5 and 7 used so many times.
3 does have its own power and is particularly good for making points you want people to hold on to, remember and take away.
But there’s something particularly satsifying about 7.
Muhammed Saleem had a good piece at Copyblogger a while back on 7 point lists – written from a social media perspective but also touching on the ‘magical’ power of 7. You certainly can’t ignore its deep-rooted cultural significance: seven days, seven wonders of the world, seven deadly sins, seven ages of man, seven colours of the rainbow, seven seas, seven dwarfs…
7 is also the smallest positive integer that’s more than syllable long. I wonder if that has something to do with its magnetic impact in headlines: the extra syllable creating extra movement.
I thought it might be interesting to unpick some of the ways I use numbered lists to help me write (although if you’re eagle eyed you’ll also be able to spot them worked into the construction of this piece). They’re not all ‘obvious’ numbered lists, but numbers all feature in the composition.
7 ways that numbers help me write
#1 To expand on an answer
Example: 7 Ways That Travel Helps Us Write
This was a short post I wrote to answer an enquiry about the writing workshop we’re running in Sardinia. I took my initial answer, sat down with a pen and paper and asked myself for 7 other responses to the question: how does travel help us write?
Asking your mind (unconscious mind, muse, creative source, whatever you call it) for a specific number of answers will always generate more interesting results than if you just ask the question on its own.
#2 To generate ideas
Example: Revealed: What Bloggers Really Do In Bed
I wanted to write something special to promote SobCon08 (and to try and win the competition!) so I started with a ‘killer headline’, borrowed from the December Copyblogger-Cosmo headline writing challenge.
Once I had the frame – something that bloggers do in bed – I then sat and doodled the different possibilities (counting sheep, waking with a start, having a nightmare) until I came up with 7… then linked them to SobCon (that was the easy part)
# 3 To get clear on the message
Example: Writing Well On The Web: A Ticket To Ride For LIPs
This was a guest post written for Lea Woodward at Location Independent. My first draft was based a long numbered list which just didn’t work - it wasn’t conversational enough for a guest post with a new set of readers, and I hadn’t done enough to create rapport.
So I rewrote it into a more friendly, human piece, with the numbered list only coming in at the end to make three points that I hoped would be of value to LIPs.
# 4 To speed things up
Example: 14 Reasons To Love Fair Trade Chocolate This Valentines
Time is often of the essence and a numbered list can be your friend here – summarising your material, writing in shorthand rather than composing an essay, getting swiftly to the point. I had a lot of research for this Giving Hands piece that I needed to compress and the list format helped me boil it down and get it written.
I wouldn’t normally go for 14 but it was the obvious choice for the Valentines theme. Oh and I also used the list at the planning stage to pick out the most important points (again, ask yourself the specific question: what are the 14 most important points to make?)
# 5 To provide a framework
Example: 7 Ages Of Alice: Exploring A Multi-layered Book
A numbered list that you wouldn’t identify as such if it wasn’t for the headline. I used 7 as the framework and then went looking through my notes, scribbles, ideas, quotes, extracts and memories for 7 different ages when Alice had ‘spoken’ to me or taught me something important.
# 6 To highlight the most important words
Example: Writing To Sustain The Heart
This is another piece that doesn’t, at first glance, look like a numbered list, but does depend on numbers for structure, form and emphasis.
Writing for The Calm Space is an interesting challenge for me because I never have any idea what I’m going to write until I sit down to do it! As we write each month to a one-word theme the dictionary often helps me out, providing the hook or the frame which in this case was the idea that writing could sustain our hearts (the old-fashioned definition of heartstrings).
Once I’d brainstormed how the act of writing helps heal our hearts I picked out the 8 most important words (in this example simple verbs) and used them to structure the piece.
# 7 To organise a lot of material
Example: Practical Tips For Business Bloggers: Introducing A New Series At BizBlogAngel
This example’s really about planning rather than writing and is great if you’ve got a lot of material to organise. With a long list of topics for a new series of pratical blogging tips, I needed some way to organise it. Again I ‘asked myself’ for 7 points I could use to structure it, then doodled different possibilities until the most useful headings came into view.
I hope that’s been useful – a bit longer than the piece I’d originally intended which was just to share the links to material I’d been writing elsewhere – but once I’d spotted the role numbers were playing I couldn’t resist exploring it further (and yes, if you look there are 7 dimensions to this piece).
I think I’m only scratching the surface as to how this works though so I’d love to hear your own perspective and experience:
- What’s your reader perception of numbered lists – love them or hate them?
- Do numbered lists help you to write?
- If so, do you have a favourite number?
- Are there any elements of ‘writing by numbers’ you’d like me to explore further?
- A question for Robyn McMaster: can you shed any light on how fixing on a number helps us to generate ideas, create new options, crystallise our learning?
This post is a kind of off-beam contribution to the theme of writing leaps and bounds at Confident Writing this month - though I'm pretty sure that using some of these techniques (wisely and carefully) can help you to stretch and grow your writing style, and maybe take a leap into a medium you hadn't considered before.
If you'd like some help in the way you compose or structure your writing I'm offering a 10% discount on my writing mentoring and writing critique services throughout the month of February for Confident Writing readers - which includes you!
Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count
Photo Credit: rgusick at Flickr
This piece was inspired by Brian Clark's 

