Listicle Outline Will Help You Grab Reader’s Attention and Never Lose It
This easy-to-use outline thrives in an online environment. Learn to use it effectively.
Do you want to get feedback on your writing?
To find out:
What’s working (so you can double down)
What’s not (so you stop wasting time)
What to do next (so your writing actually improves)
Everything has its structure.
Human body
Corporation
Language
Movie
Book
A structure is required to connect different parts, keep them together, and ensure they work as one system.
Your story will not work without a structure.
Its parts will not connect to one another in the right way. The reading flow will be as ragged as a mountain river with rapids. You can sail through it, but this is hard.
Most readers will skip reading it.
They want easy not hard. Don’t make your writing hard to read. Make it easy. The structure gives you such an opportunity.
Use writing outlines to structure your writing and win readers.
One of such outlines is List of points or Listicle outline. This outline is easy to write, read, and share on social media. It captivates readers.
They can’t stop going through its structure.
Catch Reader’s Attention With Listicle
It is fantastic for grabbing attention and keeping it.
Listicle is an outline that gives efficiency, especially in an online environment. All writers should learn to use it.
This outline works well because when readers start reading the first point, it’s naturally difficult for them to stop until the last one. Listicle is a must-have for newsletters, blogs, and social media.
There is a stronger version of this outline, but we will talk about it next time.
Listicle outline:
Your Best Headline
Intro
Point 1
Point 2
Point 3
Point 4
Point 5 etc.
Make this outline work:
As I said before this outline is easy to write. But here are a few tricks that will make it more effective and even easier to use.
1. Your Best Headline
Start your writing with a headline, not with a story itself.
Remember that List of points outline gives you a useful benefit for your headline. It provides you with a concrete number (number of points) that you can or I’d better say should use in your headline.
Why should you use it?
Because it clearly states the value your article will provide to a reader. Readers can easily understand what they can expect from your story. Like 5 productivity tips, 7 healthy habits or 10 life lessons, whatever. You get the point.
Prepare your headlines in advance or start with them when you begin to fill your outline.
Yes, you got that right. You should have several headlines to choose from, not just one. This way, you have options and can select the best one. I recommend having at least 5 headlines ready.
Put your best headline in the outline.
2. Intro
Make a short intro.
You don’t need a long intro for this outline because you can lose readers if you do so. If they click the headline of the story, they understand what they expect from it.
They want to see the points.
They don’t need a long explanation about them. Avoid making them wait. They can leave.
That’s why go straight to the points.
3. List of points
The list of points is your main part.
It can be mistakes, tips, problems, hacks, dos or don’ts. The order of points is not important and they are not linked. Sometimes, negative points can work even better than positive. People like to read about mistakes and don’ts.
To strengthen this outline, start with the strongest points.
Odd numbers work better than even.
The exception is 10.
Long listicles with many points can work better as they supposed to provide a bigger value to the reader because of bigger number of points.
But it’s not necessarily.
An ending is not required for this outline. Readers are mostly interested in the points themselves. There is a big chance they will leave right after the last point.
But you can still give them an ending if you decide so. Be short.
Thanks for reading.
Have a fabulous day!
Talk soon,
Maxim
If you enjoyed reading this story, the best compliment I could receive would be if you restacked it or shared it with one other person.
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