Bitten by the Bullet

Oct. 31, 2024

Is it just me—or have you also noticed how bad drivers are these days?

Case in point: Last week, I narrowly escaped being hit by a pickup truck.

Here’s what happened. I was driving from my home in Toronto to Cambridge (Ontario) to deliver a plain language workshop. I had barely merged onto the 401 when the white pickup caught my eye. I saw it moving fast, from right to left, across one, then two lanes of traffic. I remember thinking, surely, surely, it’s not going to just keep coming. Because if it does, it will plow right into me.

But it did!

I had to act fast. I swerved left. I can’t say for sure, but I THINK I quickly looked to make sure I wasn’t going to be the one at fault and hit a car to the left of me.

And I didn’t!

There was much deep breathing after that, I can tell you—and a single malt scotch, straight up, when I finally made it to Cambridge.

At the other end of the “whatever you do, don’t signal” spectrum, we have the drivers who can’t seem to get enough of the signal indicator.

Whatever their reason— they’re lazy, they’re not paying attention, they find the rhythmic click-click sound soothing—these people drive on (and on and on), using their trusty signal indicator to hint that they just might, at some point, change lanes.

On the way back home, I watched a big transport truck do just that—drive for several uninterrupted kilometers with its left signal indicator flashing perkily on and off.

Like the old shampoo commercial—does she, or doesn’t she? (colour her hair)—I kept thinking, will they, or won’t they…actually change lanes?

They never did.

(Maybe these drivers don’t even know their signal is on perma-flash. But that’s a whole other problem.)

Call me old fashioned, but I happen to like traffic rules.

Although the odd traffic rule may strike us as illogical or unnecessary, their overall intent is good: they help keep all of us safe. They do this by providing consistency and predictability. When we drive as other motorists expect us to, we minimize confusion, distraction, and general mayhem.

The same applies to the rules of writing.

If a communication mixes different elements haphazardly, the reader becomes distracted. They may be forced to stop and backtrack. In the worst-case scenario, they give up entirely.

On the other hand, when a communication follows established conventions—of grammar, structure and punctuation—the reader recognizes the patterns and can focus, with minimal struggle, on the message and the meaning.

Alas, one area definitely lacking in consistency is vertical lists.

The internet abounds with different advice about how to structure and punctuate lists (like this one).

Should you introduce the listed items with a colon—or not?
Should each item in the list start with a capital letter or a lower case one—or does it depend?
Should you put a semi-colon at the end of each item—or should that be a comma?
Should you use actual bullets—or is it better to use numbers or a, b, c?

I feel your pain. And I’m here to help.

Before we get into the “wherefores” of vertical lists, however, let’s take a moment to look at the “whys.”

A vertical list is a helpful way of presenting complex information in manageable chunks. As Mark Adler and Daphne Perry, co-authors of Clarity for Lawyers: Effective Legal Language, say: “Listing is our first tool in understanding a long, difficult paragraph or sentence.”

Adler and Perry add, “Though this takes up more space, it’s easier to grasp and readers may still be awake at the end.” (Amen.)

Lists are especially effective on the web. There, people tend to quickly “scan and grab” information, rather than settle in to read dense blocks of text. A list can simplify and streamline.

Lists, moreover, tend to be easier for the writer. On her BusinessWritingBlog, Lynn Gaertner-Johnson explains, “With bullet points, you can use simple structures and punctuation, and you don’t need to worry about how your sentences flow from one item to the next.” (Again, amen.)

Now, here’s the tricky part.

As much as I love my rules, when it comes to lists, there are no hard and fast ones. It’s more a matter of style. (Hence the inconsistency.)

So, having consulted several writing guides and resources, I’ve developed my own style guide for vertical lists.

Here, in 5 steps, is what I recommend:

1. Decide whether to use bullets, numbers or letters.

Bullets (aka big dots) are used when the order of the items doesn’t matter. On the whole, bullets are clean and simple and less distracting than other marks.
Numbers should be used if the items in the list need to follow a specific sequence—like a list of steps in an instruction manual—or if the order of priority is important—like a Top 10 list.
Numbers (or letters) can also be used if list is long, and reader(s) will need to refer back to the items. It’s much easier to say, “item 6” or “item f” than “the 6th bullet.”
Letters can also be used if you want readers to choose between different items.

(Note that this list takes a “mix and match” approach; it uses both numbers and bullets.)

2. Draft a sensible introductory statement.

The introductory statement acts as the lead-in or tether for each item in your list.
The intro statement minimizes repetition because it contains information common to all the list items.

3. Make sure each list item is structured the same.

Each item should have the same grammatical structure. For example, if the first three items all start with a verb, then the fourth needs to as well. This is known as parallelism. It’s about consistency and meeting the reader’s expectations.
Each item should also make good grammatical sense when joined to the introductory statement.

4. Use consistent punctuation and capitalization.

Use a colon after the introductory statement. Some style guides recommend a two-part standard, depending on whether the intro statement is a full sentence or not. I say keep it simple, and always use a colon.
Do not add any punctuation, including semi-colons, to the end of each list item. Keep each line clean and uncluttered. One exception might be legal documents; there, semi-colons are sometimes needed to provide clarity.
If each item in the list is a complete sentence—like the items in these lists—capitalize the first letter of the first word, as you would with any sentence. If the list items are sentence fragments, don’t capitalize the first letter.

5. Other helpful hints

Don’t put too many items in your list. Five or six might be fine, depending on how many words are in each item. But if your list is longer than that, consider breaking it into two or more lists.
Use a short indent to the bullet (or number or letter). Big spaces at the start of each list item are ugly and distracting.
Finally, if your organization does have a style guide, follow that! (Yes, even if some of the “rules” differ from my recommendations.)

Remember this: Like rules of the road, grammar rules provide consistency. But when it comes to vertical lists, there are no hard and fast rules. The only rule is to be consistent.

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