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Since October, I have been in the process of editing a massive manual for
the Governor's office of a state that shall remain nameless. I have about
three weeks left before the final version goes to print. I am not a veteran
at this, and I REALLY want to make a good impression. My hope is that I
might land a full-time job after the manual is complete.
We had a meeting yesterday with the content experts, and one of them made a
snide remark about the "big fat bullets" that I used for the unordered
lists. Actually, the bullets are standard size, but this content expert, a
major architect in our state, likes the more eccentric bullets available in
Word--you know, the fancy arrows. Also, He suggested that all the ordered
lists be lettered. However, in the grand scheme of things, his opinion is
just one of many.
Now this manual runs over 1,000 pages and is full of lists. To me, if the
manual is full of these fancy arrows, it won't make a good impression.
But now, I'm doubting everything about my lists. Shouldn't unordered lists
be bulleted, and ordered lists numbered? I know that there are variables in
list styles--consistency is the key--but I sure would appreciate the opinion
of some veteran writers on this matter.
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