Buzz
There's something truly fulfilling about reading that your writing made someone laugh, cry, pray, or inspired them to donate. That’s the power of a well-crafted Top Ten list. But to make that happen, we first need to get your incredible list out of your head and published online. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but as any writer will tell you, the rewards make it all worthwhile.
I may not be the most accomplished or prolific author on Mytour, not even close. But I’ve stumbled upon a method to accelerate my creative process while keeping my bad writing habits at bay. I want to share these steps in hopes that someday I’ll get to read YOUR list, and maybe inspire the true pros to reveal their own secrets (I’m calling you out, Flamehorse).
10. Choose Your Topic
Choosing the perfect topic is often the most difficult part of the process. To make it easier, keep a Topic Diary and jot down ideas as they come to you. Don't stress if you can't come up with enough entries right away—just note the ideas down and move forward. You can also draw inspiration from books or articles you’ve read, just be sure to elaborate on them and provide proper citations. Still struggling? Explore the Mytour forums, which offer over 200 suggested topics. It's a no-brainer: your audience is already telling you what they want to read about. [Image Source]
9. List Entries
For each topic in your Topic Diary, make a list of bullet points for each entry. A few brief words will suffice, and don't worry about the sequence just yet. If you're running low on ideas, you’d be amazed how combining different topics can lead to a richer and more diverse list. For instance, “10 Star Vehicles That Were Black Holes” came from merging two seemingly uninteresting ideas: ‘Rock Stars in Movies’ and ‘Worst Movies with a Decent Budget’. Neither was compelling on its own, but together they became a delightful mix of Schadenfreude. The list you're reading now evolved from a failed “My Top 10 Top 10” and “How to Write a Good Top 10 List” (discarded after reading Blogball).
8. Entry Copy
Start by opening a new Word document and writing the title for your list. Under this title, create a bullet-point list of all the examples you can think of. There's no need to order them, nor should you worry if you don’t have exactly ten examples. History shows that if you come up with six or seven strong candidates, more ideas will emerge during your research.
Next, create an entry box. This will eventually become one of the top ten entries in your list. Scroll down the page and write each bullet point on its own line. Then, press ‘enter’ about ten times to provide ample space to work.
Now, research and gather the raw data you plan to use. Copy and paste this data verbatim, starting on the seventh empty line within the entry box. Below the box, include the bibliographic details of the source. Repeat this process each time you add supporting data. When completed, your list entry will be fully cited, brimming with information—but probably hard to read.
7. Refine
Do you remember the empty lines at the top of the entry box? Your final version will go there, but before that, you'll need to make a rough draft.
Eliminate any parts of the raw data that aren't necessary. Once you've done this, you'll have a much more concise excerpt of someone else's words supporting your argument. Since you've probably used several sources, the writing will likely lack consistency, giving it the feel of being written by a committee (because, at this point, it truly is).
This is when the empty lines come into play. Rewriting the passage in your own words, using the same style and voice as the other entries, will make it flow more naturally. This ensures it sounds like it was written by one person. Remove the rough draft text, but retain the source links for the editors’ reference.
6. Cut. Then Cut Again
Truman Capote once said he believed ‘more in scissors than in pencils’. Read through your passage again and trim the wording to only what’s necessary. It may be uncomfortable, but the goal is clarity, not clever phrasing. Those who’ve seen my previous lists might notice some grand hypocrisy (see ‘Top 10 Incredibly Dangerous Sports’). [Image Source]
5. Pictures and Videos
I’m always pleasantly surprised by the images and graphics chosen by the editors for the lists. ‘10 Ridiculous Cases of Political Correctness’ looks downright artistic. This is a good thing because the online submission page doesn’t support graphics or formatting. If your list requires a specific image or video, make sure to include the hyperlink in the source material.
4. Order Up!
This is the arrangement of your entries, whether it’s ‘worst to first’, ‘first to worst’, or any other order. Each entry should be justified for its placement, as the selective nature of lists creates thematic tension for the reader. For instance, ‘Top 10 Talking Donkeys’ might have been mocked by some, but I found myself genuinely on edge, wondering what could possibly come next. Surely, there couldn’t have been 10 of these, right? Well, there were. The way the entries were ordered made perfect sense and made the list far more rewarding.
3. Trolls
You should embrace trolls. Seriously. The fact that they get so upset over something you wrote for free is honestly hilarious. Respond at your own peril—just remember, they’re few in number but relentless. And if you do get hurt, know that they’d never have the guts to say any of this to your face.
Also, keep in mind that the opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference. Someone was so deeply affected by your writing that they just HAD to react. Perhaps releasing their frustration through their comment kept them from lashing out elsewhere, like at their dog or their kids. And just because they’re angry doesn’t mean they didn’t take something away from your work. Still stinging? Jonathan Swift might offer some comfort: ‘When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.’
Happy writing.
2. Rejection / Success
a. Rejection
You’ve submitted your piece and now you’re obsessively checking Mytour every day, hoping to see your work posted. But it doesn’t appear. There are many possible reasons: maybe the topic is too broad or too niche, maybe it’s a pain to edit, maybe it’s good but already been done, or maybe you forgot to send Jamie the $85 ‘processing fee’ (just kidding). The reasons are endless.
Don’t be discouraged—you took the leap and tried something new. If you’re still unsure why your piece didn’t make the cut, give it a cold re-read after a few weeks. You’ll likely spot areas for improvement that you missed before. ‘10 Great Philanthropists Who Are Kids’ required a major rewrite before it was accepted.
And just so you know, I’ve been rejected plenty of times. ‘Top 10 Electric Guitars’, ‘Top 10 Shortest Rock Stars’, ‘10 Bizarre Audiophile Speakers’, and ‘My Top 10 Top 10’ are all classics on the Island of Misfit Toys (sniff).
b. Success
Congratulations, you’re now a published author, and your work might even make it into a Mytour book someday. Enjoy the praise from readers, but don’t let the criticism get to you. Despite all your hard work, the collective wisdom of the crowd might point out research errors or suggest better entries. I’ve been proven wrong at least three times (no Timothy McVeigh in ‘Top 10 Traitors in US History’), and peer review made sure I knew about it. It’s not a pleasant feeling, but be mature enough to admit when you’re wrong: most commenters are looking to contribute to the conversation, not attack you personally.
[Note from JFrater: I generally try to avoid rejecting lists, and I’ll edit them if possible. However, lists that require substantial editing tend to take longer to appear on the site due to the additional time needed for revisions.]
1. 24 Hour Rule
You’ve completed the list, and it looks great—probably the best thing you’ve ever written. You’ve invested a lot of time into it and are now worried that someone else might be working on the same topic. Feeling paranoid? Post it NOW, right?
Wrong.
You’re too immersed in it. Set the list aside for a day and come back with a fresh perspective. You’ll likely find yourself going back to step six, frustrated by how wordy and pretentious your writing sounds. Make the necessary cuts and pass the list to SOMEONE ELSE for a final review. If they have any trouble reading your list, focus on that section and fix it completely. Not just a minor fix, but a total fix.
Proofreaders are also excellent at catching typos. They would have caught that I misspelled Ozzy Osbourne’s name in ‘Ten Rock Acts That Sabotaged Their Careers’ and Duke Nukem in ‘10 Cases of Vaporware’. In both cases, the correct spelling was right there in the graphic below my misspelled title. D’oh!
After a solid proofreading, copy everything from your Word document and paste it into the ‘Submit a List’ page on Mytour. Resist the temptation to make any further edits, and just click ‘Submit’. And now, the waiting game begins.
