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Top 10 Reasons Not to Make Top 10 Articles
Tired of countless articles all following the same top 10 style? Then check out these Top 10 Reasons NOT to do it.
Are you as tired as I am about always reading articles that feature a top ten list? Well I have decided to do something about it. I am here to inspire you to make articles with a top 12 or maybe even a top 13 list instead of the standard ten. I mean come on, the top ten is so conformists and outdated and boring. Do us all a favor and mix it up a little.
Number 1
A top ten list is an arbitrary number that does not truly represent what the actual best objects in the subject matter are.
Number 2
Often times a writer will include weak arguments or ideas into a top ten list just to get to that top ten number.
Number 3
David Letterman has been doing it for years.
Number 4
The number ten is not a cool number, seven is better and 12 is pretty cool but 10 is just boring.
Number 5
A top ten list does not allow the writer to think outside the box and holds him/her in.
Number 6
Should you start with number ten and countdown or start with number one and count up?
Number 7
Lists are better for going to the market not writing an article on a certain subject.
Number 8
VH1 does the top 100, that is some serious commitment there. Lets see you do that.
Number 9
You should try writing actual paragraphs and a beginning, middle and an end. That makes a good article.
Number 10
It is rumored that top ten lists led to the downfall of the Soviet Union.
There you go. Now stop making these lists. I hope you ejoyed reading this as much as I hated writing it. Now go out and do some good in the world.
Thanks for reading.
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24 Comments
Well done! I wholeheartedly agree!! I dont think I have anything top 10.. but top 7 or 9’s something rather odd numbered.. LOL your tips are spot on and some very humourous.. cheers
As a writer, I like Number 9 the best! Write complete sentences, not lists!
So your response to unimaginative, poorly reasoned top tens is an unimaginative, poorly reasoned top ten?
Interesting article.
Good premise, and I bet you had more fun than you’re letting on.
Funny article, never really thought of that! Actually, putting information in little ’squares and categories’ is to convince people to read articles. 10 ways to do that..have this..We humans tend to look for the easy way, rather than finding solutions on our own and following our intuition!
Happy easter and I won’t talk about the 10 good reasons to eat chocolate this weekend!
Love your way,
Marcomé
You are funny Jake. I often wonder, what is so magical about that number ten. Now I can see it is all psychological.
Monica
Guess I’m humored by a different type of humor because I didn’t find this funny. Not to knock you but I like top 10 lists. And, for some people writing a top 10 might be a challenge.
No reason to hate on a top 10 list… I’d venture to say a lot of people enjoy them (depending on the topic).
I have no problem with the idea of top tens, but they’ve simply become overexposed here on Triond.
And as a short plug here, I did this first
But you took a different angle on it
http://www.purpleslinky.com/Humor/Top-Ten-Top-Ten-Lists-I-Am-Sick-of.626521
And in the Soviet Union, Top Ten writes YOU!
Almost as good as the David Letterman top ten list that he does every night. Well done.
Funny, funny. Eeks. But I do have a Top 10 List about Fargo, North Dakota. And now I feel kind of embarrassed…
Top 10s work. Nobody reads paragraphs on the Internet if it can be avoided.
Haha, I loved this article, great job!
Brilliant and very clever thinker you are! Love it…
Yeah – I agree here – to an extent. Whether it is right or wrong, most internet users have the attention span of a gnat.
What was I saying? Oh yeah….
Anything longer than ten points and they will lose interest (or, they may not be numerate enough to count higher – either way you as a writer will lose out). 500-700 words is about as much as you should write (where possible) as that seems to be about the limit.
I used to write articles that went on for pages (much like this comment) but realised that the additional page views were not worth it. I did once see a Triond article that was 24 pages long and always wanted to ask the author how many hits it got!
Now that I have gone off subject I had better get back on to it. Most people like lists… that’s why TV, newspapers and Triond have so many of them. There is something deep and dark and pyschological going on there, but I don’t see any reason why people should go up to 10 if they can’t think of anything else to say!
This was not interesting or clever or funny but I am going to click that little Post Comment button anyway!
This was a cute article. I agree that sometimes we find something that works, like making lists, and we keep using it. Although I think there are times when listing things is needed.
And, who has all that time to sit and read so many reasons to do anything? Huh? LOL!
Hey Jake, his is a really great top ten list. Let’s just say agree to disagree, I think almost everyone loves top ten lists. You can post this to our site http:t//www.toptentopten.com/ and then link back to your site. We are looking for top ten lists and our users can track back to your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list. Oh, and isn’t being responsible for the downfall of the Soviet Union a good thing?
Well said my Friend, obviously most of the best articles are not on this list!
Nice, because that’s where I found this article.
Great Fun. Well done.
sometimes lists are good.
I think its funny how you kind of cut down your own article by writing the article. Up one!
Nice attempt. Some top 10 lists are actually good and fun too but most of them are really pathetic attempts.
Internet reading is browsing – short text works better as browsers have mini attention spans.