The Mystical Listicle

A recent trend on many blogs, news sites and such is that of the listicle. An article disguised as a list, or vice versa. Why are they awesome? Well I could provide you with a list, but this is a blog about listicles. Not a listicle itself.

But here's why listicles are great, in my opinion: They're easily scanned for short attention spans, and they're nicely organized.

Want to give advice? Listicle.

Too many points to make? Listicle.

Several things you've researched make a connection of some sort? Listicle.

Are listicles lazy? Heck nuuuu... They're hard work, if done well. They're far beyond the basic Top Ten lists of years gone by. I admire their formatting, if done well. I absorb their sometimes conciseness. I appreciate that I can digest information in little chunks. It's like watching something with commercial breaks but without the commercials (well, depending on the amount of advertising on the site).

I don't like big long paragraphs in blogs, newspapers, or novels. If I see a place in a novel to break a paragraph I will smash that paragraph in two (or three). Is it grammatically necessary? Likely not. But will it make your page flow better? Will it make your points stand out, giving more emphasis where needed? Signs point to yes.

I should point out that 'Listic' in Listic Books & Publishing, has nothing to do with Listicles. It is in fact a character from Murder on the Orion Express, who derived her name from Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

On that note, I leave you with this thought: Forego the long-windedness and embrace the listicle.

#listicle #writing