NCC Blog

Article Marketing: How to write lists using parallel structure

December 7, 2009
By Linda Dessau

Lists are a great structure to use in your articles, but only if they’re written well. In The Art of the List, Guy Kawasaki of Alltop rates the lists in several blog posts. He ends with a list of suggestions, one of which was to keep list items parallel by making them all the same length.

But of course there’s more you can do to ensure parallel structure. In this live editing demonstration, I’ll show you what’s wrong with this list and how to fix it:

Here are some guidelines for using affirmations:

  • Repeat your affirmation daily.
  • Only have one main idea in your affirmations.
  • Speak your affirmation in the present tense.
  • It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe the affirmation, say it anyway.

Click the start arrow to watch the video!

Linda Dessau is an editor, ghostwriter and certified coach, and is the author of The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write: Look Smarter, Write Faster and Get Better Results from Your Writing. For step-by-step instructions for writing your next Top 10 list, download your free Top 10 Article Generator from www. GrowYourBusinessWithArticles.com.

This entry was posted on December 7, 2009 at 4:32 pm and is filed under How To.... You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

4 Responses to “ Article Marketing: How to write lists using parallel structure ”

  1. Tammi Metzler on December 8, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    What a great video, Linda…very informative! Thanks for sharing these helpful tips.

    Tammi

  2. Linda Dessau on December 8, 2009 at 3:12 pm

    Thanks, Tammi!

  3. Dr. Sharon Johnson on December 11, 2009 at 2:03 am

    Thanks, Linda!
    I have been ’storing up little emails to listen to–finally have some time to enjoy the abundant creativity.
    This little live email taught me a lot–especially about the success of a simple, basic lesson. For me, it was a very successful presentation because it didn’t have a lot of peripheral commentary–I think I over explain. Great Lesson, too. I find “this offense” a lot when editing–especially within even just one sentence. Thank you again!

  4. Linda Dessau on December 11, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    Hi Sharon,

    Thanks so much for your positive comments – I’m glad you enjoyed the lesson. I’m really enjoying making these video posts – and with the 5-minute limit, it’s even easier to keep things concise :)

    Best wishes,
    Linda

Leave a Reply