Saturday, November 05, 2011

How to How-To: Part 3 - Organizing with Lists and Steps

All your brilliant ideas, facts, figures, and solutions will go unread, unnoticed, and unappreciated if readers can’t find them. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to organize your information into lists, steps, and tables, to improve your readers’ comprehension and increase their chances of success. One you get the hang of using lists, steps, and tables, you’ll never write the same again!

Clustering information in lists
A list organizes complex information into one cohesive unit. Look at this recipe for preparing spaghetti:

To cook the spaghetti, fill a large pot with cold water, and put it on the stove. Turn the burner to high. (To boil the water faster, put the lid on the pot.) When the water boils, open the spaghetti package and put the spaghetti into the water. Leave the lid off, and cook the spaghetti in furiously boiling water until it’s done. (For firm spaghetti, boil for 7 minutes. For softer spaghetti, boil for 9 minutes.) Put a colander in the sink. When the spaghetti is done, take the pot off the burner and drain the spaghetti in the colander. (Remember to turn off the burner.) Then rinse the spaghetti. If you’re using the spaghetti in a hot dish (for example, with sauce), rinse it under hot water. If you’re using the spaghetti in a cold dish (like a salad), rinse it under cold water.

This paragraph explains the task correctly. But if your reader’s guests are due in three minutes, she’s still wearing workout clothes, and the dog just got sick, she’d have a hard time following directions in this dense paragraph.

This recipe would read better in a list. There are two basic types of lists:

• Ordered lists (steps), for items readers must do or understand sequentially. Precede items in ordered lists with numbers or letters. For example:

In an emergency, follow these steps:
1. Clean the floor.
2. Change your clothes.
3. Greet your guests with a smile.

• Unordered lists, for items readers can do or understand in any order. Unordered lists often contain options or choices. For example:

You can:
- Offer appetizers
- Tie on aprons and ask for help
- Order out

Although bullets (stars, dashes, or other symbols) normally precede items in unordered lists, you can use numbers. Notice how numbers verify the introduction in this example:

There are three ways to know your guests have arrived:
1. You hear voices outside
2. You’re still wearing sweats
3. Your dog looks green

Note: When you mention a number, be sure your list includes that many items.

Trying it out
Rewrite the recipe paragraph into lists. Your results might look like this:

To cook spaghetti:
1. Fill a large pot with cold water.
2. Put the pot on the stove, and turn the burner to high.
To boil the water faster, put the lid on the pot.
3. When the water boils, open the spaghetti package and put the spaghetti into the water.
Leave the lid off.
4. Cook the spaghetti in furiously boiling water until it’s done.
- For firm spaghetti, boil for 7 minutes.
- For softer spaghetti, boil for 9 minutes.
5. Put a colander in the sink.
6. When the spaghetti is done, take the pot off the burner, and drain the spaghetti in the colander.
Remember to turn off the burner.
7. Rinse the spaghetti.
- If you’re using the spaghetti in a hot dish (for example, with sauce), rinse under hot water.
- If you’re using the spaghetti in a cold dish (for example, in a salad), rinse under cold water.

Readers can now follow each step, stay oriented, learn details, and choose among options.

Happy writing!

Copyright © 2011 by Marilyn C. Hilton

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