A Listicle On How to Write a Good Listicle

If you’re going to hate on listicles, don’t read my listicle

At the end of the day, when my brain is fried, and I can no longer do heavy thinking, I turn to Buzzfeed for their easy to read and meaningless listicles. Buzzfeed has perfected the art of the listicle. They know their readers are looking for bite-sized information that can be quickly consumed.

But not every writer on the Internet has mastered the listicle. It is such an easy sounding concept. List writing. It tricks many a writer into believing it is effortless to write.

A listicle can be a fantastic way to disseminate complex concepts where readers tend to skim articles looking for pertinent information. Or it can be an escape for your brain, like the Buzzfeed articles I love. But it can also be a pile of drivel. You’ve got to put some effort into it.

So many haters

Love them or hate them, the listicle is here to stay. The problem is not the format of the listicle, it’s the content. As we have all seen, an excessive amount of mediocre listicles are strewn across the internet.

But, a listicle done right is a thing of beauty.

Listicles are nothing new

You may think listicles were invented by Buzzfeed, but listicles have been around for a long time. And they’ve been going viral longer than the terms “viral” or “listicle” have existed.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, people have been sharing listicles as far back as the 19th century. The scholars considered an article to be “viral” if it was printed 50 times or more. And the headlines were strikingly similar to anything we might find today, such as parenting advice, health tips, and general information.

Our brains love lists

Done right, a listicle can be a satisfying read. Our minds relish lists. Lists help us remember complex information in an organized manner. And online, especially on small screens, it’s easier to read an article with whitespace breaking up the thoughts, rather than wading through a wall of text.

It’s also comforting to know exactly where you’re at in an article. If you’re reading a list of 17 Ways to Turn Your Bathroom Into a Spa and you’re on number 15, you know you’re almost done. It’s reassuring to know exactly where you are and how much is left.

And now, here it comes. The listicle portion of the article.

9 Tips for creating the perfect listicle

Whether you’re writing a serious article on the effects of global warming, or something more frivolous, like the top 10 TV moments from Keeping Up With the Kardashians, you want your listicle to entertain and hold the readers’ interest. And here’s how to do it.

Tip #1: Make sure your content works in a list

Not everything is best served by a list. A narrative on the difficulties you’re facing as a freelance writer while your child learns from home during a pandemic may not work list style. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules in writing. This article may turn out nicely as Top 10 Reasons I’m Losing My Mind as I Freelance During a Pandemic With My Entire Family at Home All Day.

Hey, I may have just come up with my next listicle idea with that one.

Tip #2: Avoid a clickbaity headline

Listicles have an awful reputation for clickbait. Clickbait entices you to click with the temptation of emotion or sensationalism. But once you get there, you find very little substance.

Clickbait headlines are the number one reason listicles get such a bad rap. Make sure you deliver on the promises you make in your headline, or you’ll lose your reader early on, and you’ll tick people off.

Tip #3: But make it a good headline

You want an attention-grabbing headline. This is not the same as clickbait (see above.) You are not trying to trick someone into reading your article, but you want it to be read. You have spent time and effort writing, and wouldn’t it be lovely if someone else read it? Lots of someones, preferably.

You need to spend time working on your headline to create something that is both accurate and interesting. You can get lots of reads if your article gets shared across social media platforms. And social media loves listicles. But, to get shared, you must give your readers something of value. What is your goal for the reader? To be entertained, to laugh, to learn something? Think of your article’s main point and focus on that with your headline.

Tip #4: Introduce your topic

You need to set up the article and provide a brief explanation. It can be as brief as two sentences, or longer. If you’re pitching to a publication, check their requirements. Bustle, for example, wants you to have a 220 to 300-word introduction before the list begins. Others may only want a few sentences.

Tip #5: Keep your article scannable

Each of the items on your list should be introduced in a subheading. Below each subheading is a paragraph or two with further description. A reader can scan through this and read each list item. If they’re short for time, they can easily read the subheadings and skip the rest. If they see something that interests them, they can slow down and read your elaborations.

Yes, in an ideal world, your reader hangs on your every word. However, you may have noticed, we aren’t living in an ideal world. Let’s make the best with what we’ve got. Listicles keep things scannable, which is what many readers are going to do anyway.

Tip #6: Find your unique perspective

I don’t care what anyone tells you. It’s going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to find a topic that has never been covered anywhere before. Very few of us are that creative. Don’t let the fact that your subject matter has already been written about deter you.

“There is nothing new under the sun.” — Book of Ecclesiastes

The trick becomes how to make it your own. Your take on it is your take. And that hasn’t been done yet. If you want to write about why yoga is healthful, maybe write about it from your perspective. What happened to you when you tried it every day for 30 days? Nobody else is you, nobody else’s article will look the same as yours.

Tip #7: Embrace your creativity

If you’re writing an article about say, the benefits of exercise, you’re going to need to cover the basics that everyone knows. Exercise helps you lose weight and improves energy, but did you know exercise can also increase pain tolerance and delay the appearance of aging? Don’t just throw out the standard items in your lists. Try to throw in some less well-known ideas to surprise your reader.

Tip #8: Choose your number of items

You’ll find a lot of advice on this if you search Google. I’ve seen listicles with over 30 items and even though each entry is kept short, I find them overwhelming. But beyond keeping the list from becoming overwhelming, the amount of items you have is less important than the content of the items. The Internet disagrees with me. Some will tell you to keep your list at 15 or more, some say always make it an odd number, and some say 10 items is the way to go.

What is one to do with this conflicting advice? Go your own way and choose the number that makes sense for your topic. Don’t throw items in that are nothing more than fluff just to get yourself to an arbitrary number of items.

Tip #9: Have a great ending

I’ve seen many a listicle end without much of an ending. But when you’re wrapping things up, take a moment to summarize or come up with a witty last line. It’s easy to simply end a list with the final item, but your article needs closure. Even listicles need closure. Keep your writing memorable. It can be short, but it needs to wrap things up in a satisfying way.

Now that I’ve played up the importance of a great ending, I feel the pressure to live up to it.

Don’t let the listicle’s bad reputation drive you away. Listicles can be awesome. I love them. In fact, I’m heading over to Buzzfeed after this to learn 17 Ways to Organize My Tiny Apartment. And don’t think the fact that I don’t live in a tiny apartment (or even an apartment) will deter me from happily reading it.