![]() This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. If you're unconvinced that readers – particularly online readers – need lots of "whitespace", try Googling "the value of whitespace.A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. This sounds like advice to play with the rules for writing a paragraph. Yes, there is a one-topic-one-paragraph ruling, but there's also a need to protect your readers from lengthy texts. If we're being strict, each of your paragraphs should neatly encapsulate one topic, but, as we've touched upon, the definition of "topic" is pretty slack, and this often gives you some wriggle-room to play with your paragraph lengths. Therefore, dividing a long text into bite-sized topics is essential for keeping your readers engaged. On a screen, an unbroken lengthy text looks doubly so. In print, an unbroken lengthy text looks dull and daunting. (Point 3 - an observation) Your online readers won't read lengthy texts, so use your discretion to keep your paragraphs short. Note how only the last "paragraph" (in this case, the name) gets a closing quotation mark. ![]() Being only one, having only one pair of eyes, having only one time, having only one life, I cannot read your M.S. Only one life to live, only sixty minutes in one hour. Fifield sent Gertrude Stein the following rejection letter shortly after receiving her manuscript for The Making of Americans: When a quotation contains multiple paragraphs (or is a text with lots of new lines), a common convention is to use an opening quotation mark at the start of each paragraph (to remind your readers that they're still reading a quotation) but only one closing quotation mark at the end of the last paragraph. (Point 2 - a style convention) Use several "opening" quotation marks if your quotation covers more than one paragraph. This is a useful tip to ensure your paragraph covers one topic neatly. Another useful tip is to concoct a paragraph title in your head (i.e., don't physically write it) before writing. You could use a single-word title for your paragraph (e.g., Cost), but it wouldn't be as useful. Firstly, it ensures your paragraph topic is neatly bounded, and, secondly, the title will assist busy executives with skim-reading. (Point 1 - a good tip) In business writing, use paragraph titles.Ī good tip for business writing is to give each of your paragraphs a title that summarizes the paragraph content. One is a good tip, one is a style convention, and one is an observation. There are three noteworthy points related to paragraphs. If you prefer "aspect" instead of "topic," go with that. Whatever the scope of your paragraph, it should be neatly bounded as one aspect. Sometimes, a paragraph will be an aspect of a topic, sometimes it will be a topic within an issue, sometimes it will be an issue within an argument.a narrative, a process, a comparison, whatever. So, what is a topic? That is another question that cannot be answered. For example, you could have a one-topic paragraph describing Venus (with the next paragraph describing Mars) or a one-topic paragraph describing the hues of a sunset (with the next paragraph describing its reflection in the sea). This diversity means that it's not always easy to determine what "one topic" means when dividing your text into paragraphs. The level of detail will vary from text to text, so there is no answer to the question "how long is a paragraph?". (Whatever format you use, be consistent.)Ī paragraph could be part of a text that informs people, describes something, critiques something, compares things, persuades people, lists a process, makes an argument, offers a solution, or narrates a story. Sometimes, paragraphs are indented or numbered. In other words, do not create the divide between two closely linked sentences, and avoid using pronouns in the second half that refer unclearly or ambiguously to nouns in the first half (called their antecedents).Ī paragraph starts on a new line. If you employ this technique, look for a natural break in your long paragraph. This is a justifiable technique that ensures readers are not over-faced. Even though the length of a paragraph is supposed to be determined by the topic, writers have learned to divide long texts into bite-sized paragraphs to avoid presenting too much text in one chunk. However, sticking rigidly to this formula is not always advisable. It will only cover one topic from start to finish. It will have detail sentences in the middle and end with a concluding sentence. The "perfect" paragraph will start with a topic sentence.
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