Anytime you read a guide on good writing practices, bulleted lists typically figure in as one of the most suggested items. In fact, some of the best articles I’ve read in the past week used them to great effect.
Personally, I love articles that employ them properly. Bulleted lists, done well, typically facilitate immense benefits to the readability of text (provided your text is written well and has been passed through a grammar software, of course). Using them, you can:
* Locate important points immediately.
* Find information at a glance.
* Offer plenty of white space, allowing your text to be lighter on the eyes.
* Provide a clear structure to the presentation of information.
If the above list was presented in paragraph form, it would read this way:
Using bulleted lists, you can locate important points immediately, find information at a glance, offer plenty of white space so text looks lighter on the eyes and provide a clear structure to the presentation of information.
When presented in a straight form, separated by either comma or semicolons, lists tend to be harsh on the eyes.
While that makes them no different from the rest of your text, they differ in the fact that you can actually do something to make them easier – by presenting them as bullet points. As long as you don’t overdo it (like writing every other paragraph in that format), your writing should be fine.
In this way, data are being presented in an organize and manageable way. It also minimizes insignificant details that are found in paragraph forms but this type of list must be use appropriately in order to provide an effective flow of a better article.
