How is using a list effective in a piece of writing?
Of course, it depends on what piece of writing you're doing. Is
it fiction or nonfiction? A list in a nonfiction piece gives a lot
of information in a short time, and also conveys the information
that everything on that list has something in common. A list in a
fiction piece serves the same function informationally, but it also
slows the action of the plot and draws out the tension.