Lists & hierarchies

So far we've seen what you might call vertical lists, like this:

We've also seen how these lists can change shape when we add levels of categorisation:

But we don't have to write lists vertically.

We can also write the list items horizontally, in what we might call an 'inline' list:

Why the semicolons?

You can separate list items with commas or semicolons.

Either is fine, but semicolons are particularly useful if the list items already use commas in their description. For example:

That comma in the middle of the description of the plumbus makes the semicolon necessary, so that 'lightly fleebed' doesn't look like a list item.

Make your own inline list, and describe at least one item in enough detail that you need a comma, which then means you need to use semicolons to separate items.

You can write a list about anything you want. If you want an idea, write a list of things that are fun to do during a holiday.

If you're still stuck, write a list of things that look like they were fun to do during a Dutch winter in 1608 (click to open image in a new tab):

Compared to a vertical or bulleted list, an inline list is kind of hard to read, right?

How can we make an inline list more readable?