The list is not parallel. The first two elements are complete sentences, but the third element is not a sentence. (Don`t be fooled by the case and punctuation of the third element.) Make the following list in parallel. Make sure that each item in the results list begins with an imperative verb: when you think of the next use of the semicolon, a superhero comes to mind. In fact, the semicolon acts as a kind of superma (superhero music keyword and voiceover) where list items require sublists. Use numbered lists when the order of the items listed is important and ideas need to be expressed in chronological order. For example, use a numbered list when you need to list a series of steps in the instructions or when you present ideas explained in a specific order in the following text. If you have a list of more than 8 items, you need to divide the list into two or more steps or categories (phase 1 steps, phase 2 steps, etc.). Attorney at Work`s series on legal writing skills continues with punctuation at the center. Here`s the thinness when using a colon or semicolon.
In general, integrated lists are a poor means of presenting technical information. Try converting embedded lists to bulleted or numbered lists. For example, you must convert the sentence that contains the embedded list to the following passage: A vertical list does not use a comma to place each list item, but rather uses bullets or numbers. A “nested” list is a list within a list or a list of child items. These can be useful to avoid bulleted lists that are too long by categorizing items into sublists. Note that the long enumeration on the left does not effectively categorize items, so the accent is lost. The nested list is more efficient. Bulleted list items should usually be short (a word or phrase). If you find that your bullets are longer, you should use another type of list, such as a labeled list or a nested list. In the introductory example, you saw how to use a colon before adding items to the list. But beyond the introduction, colons sometimes appear in the text of a sentence.
There are two main types of lists: vertical lists and horizontal lists. Horizontal list items use commas to separate each list item from a set (for example, “a horse, a cat, and a dog”). You add colons before introducing horizontal lists, but only if the list is preceded by a complete set. For example, “I have to give you three names: Janet, Isaiah, and Thomas.” Just as there are rules for creating lists, there are rules on how you can incorporate them into your text. Most importantly, a list should be preceded by an introductory sentence (or sentence) that contains both a subject and a verb. Technical writers often use the phrase “the following” somewhere in the introductory sentence to make it clear that a list of items will follow. You may also experience list issues, such as incorrect concurrency issues in a sentence. Creating lists with a parallel grammatical structure for each element means that the author structures all the elements in the same way to facilitate comprehension. Josh Taylor is a Connecticut-based practicing litigator and head of legal content strategy at Tracers, a survey data search software company for law firms. Previously, Josh worked at the Writing Resource Center at John Marshall Law School and as head of legal content and strategic partnerships at a national legal software company.
He has spoken across the country on topics related to practice management and legal writing. Josh serves on the boards of Beyond Legal Aid and the Chicago Fringe Opera Company. He also writes the Legal Writing Reminders series for Attorney at Work. Lists, when used correctly, can be a technical writer`s – and the reader`s – best friend. Lists allow you to highlight important ideas. They also increase text readability by simplifying long sentences or paragraphs and adding aesthetic passive space to make reading more enjoyable. However, using the wrong type of list or formatting a list can lead to confusion instead of improving readability. Therefore, it is important to understand the different types of lists and how and why they are used. Before each list, you usually insert a lead-in to introduce the list items, followed by a colon. The track can be an incomplete or complete sentence.
For example: Outside of the legal field, in business and in web writing, do not put punctuation after each list item unless it is a complete sentence, and always be consistent. Use lists in the sentence when you (a) want to maintain the paragraph style, (b) avoid too many lists on a page, and (c) when the list items are relatively short and can be clearly expressed in a sentence without creating a run-on. The previous sentence is an example of a list in the sentence. Note that each item listed is preceded by a lowercase letter in parentheses. An embedded list (sometimes called a break-in list) contains items that are populated into a set. For example, the following sentence contains an embedded list of four items. A numbered list usually contains a lead-in followed by a series of list items. It looks something like this: Usually, the lists in the sentence have 2-4 elements. In general, avoid including more than 4 items in this type of list (unless they are very short), otherwise your sentence could be difficult to read. Sometimes a document contains a sublist in a list called a nested list.
Nested elements work well when discussing a topic that needs to be broken down into extra bullet points. Be sure to indent nested lists with a new indent point to the right of the bulleted list to indicate that this is a child. Use a labeled list when listing items that require further explanation. These can be bulleted or numbered. Start the list item with the word or term (the “legend”), in italics (or bold), and then followed by a colon. After the colon, write the explanation or reinforcement of the term or concept in the normal body of the text. Punctuation of lists embedded in scientific documents Lists are often used in academic and scientific writing to present information to readers in a clear and orderly manner. Whether the material a science author wants to communicate is short and relatively simple or long and extremely complicated, an effectively created list can increase the accessibility and impact of the material, which can also prove more interesting and memorable when presented in a well-organized list.