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Top 10 Reasons We Love Lists

January 7, 2011 By Linda Dessau

“The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists.” – H. Allen Smith, American Journalist

Preparing for next week’s call, “How to Write a Better List,” I stepped back to reflect on why lists are such a popular format for blogs and articles. Here are my conclusions, some of which I wrote in an earlier article, “The Top 10 Reasons to Write a Top 10 List.”

As readers we love lists because:

  1. Lists are familiar and we know what to expect right off the bat.
  2. Even when the topic is serious, we have a positive association with Top 10 lists as a source of entertainment.
  3. Lists break information down into digestible chunks that are easy for us to absorb.
  4. Lists are easy to skim, helping us get a broad overview of a topic, even when we’re busy.
  5. Lists are linear, logical and organized – even when we’re not. There is something comforting about that.

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As writers, we love lists because:

  1. Readers love them, so there’s a better chance they’ll keep reading and read/receive more content from us in the future.
  2. Lists provide an instant structure for generating article or topic ideas.
  3. Lists help you focus your mind, your topic and your writing.
  4. List items can be the foundational material for countless other projects such as other articles, book chapters, entire books, workshops, coaching programs or presentations.
  5. Lists challenge us to think of more ideas in order to come up with the number of points we’ve promised in the title.
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Filed Under: Content Marketing Ideas, Writing Tips

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