The biggest challenge to people who write is the increasingly short attention span of people who read. Those in the know suggest bullet points or numbered lists to make stuff "reader friendly". These are techniques that set apart sections of text and give them greater importance. Removing these parts from the main body of the copy clears them out, makes them easy to see and supposedly draws reader attention.
But if the bulleted pointed sections are the important stuff, why bother with the rest of the text. When we make a shopping list we don't open with a paragraph explaining why. We don't compose a conclusion for our list interpreting our choices in a wider context. We just bullet the items, one under the other.
And this is the problem with publishing lists. They appear as a set of instructions or rules, they point the finger, and warn us not to be naughty, not to forget something. But they lack depth, have no capacity for detail. Lacking reason, they simply parcel information into tiny forgettable bites. The bulleted list sends a clear message: "I might be important, but I'm just a summary, I'm boring but you better not forget me!"
Bullets and numbered lists are useful for summaries and sets of instructions, text that TELLS people what to do. But if you really want to interest your reader, really pull them in, the paragraph is where it's at. There's nothing as effective a well pointed, nicely weighted paragraph. Try it. Your readers will love it.
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