Sep 21, 2008
If we use paragraphs—and we all do—let’s think about how to use them best.
I doubt any good writers doggedly follow the classic 3rd grade teacher’s paragraph rules.
So what does make for a good paragraph?
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© 2012 Abuyo. All rights reserved.
BTW, if this isn’t an issue that everyone cares deeply about and that is bound to stir up controversy, then I don’t know what is.
What else for controversy? Comma usage. Just ask an author who has an editor with a different comma style.
I’ll bite. To what I’m pleased to call my mind, a paragraph should throw in the towel and admit defeat once it’s stopped sustaining the interest. It’s the whatnot of expression which shouldn’t really get in the way of the thing, devoting itself sedulously to the point, if you will, and once said p. has been made, it must push off. A paragraph prolonged is an execrable thing, and whether or not it ends with a flourish or a fart, the important thing is that it ends. Which is why this one is now done.
I remember those old paragraph rules and usually ignore them.
Since I’ve done a fair amount of newspaper style writing, I often keep paragraphs short, whether in articles or emails. In news writing, blogs, and online media, I think it keeps the text punchy and easier to tread.
So, I’ll follow the rules in having each paragraph introduce a new proposition or theme, but I resist making them lengthy or having the last sentence recapitulate the first.
That should be “easier to read” although, I’m sort of liking “easier to tread” in an odd sort of way.
Abraham,
Now I have heard you advocate:
1) something around a five sentence limitation per paragraph,
2) and that paragraphs were designed to help the reader.
“Give details, reasons, and examples to support your topic”
This middle instruction seems a little ambiguous as to an exact number of sentences it takes to support the topic. How important is a short paragraph that helps the reader if it is inadequate in supporting the topic?
Both of these are crucial in a “good paragraph.” I need a solution.
YES to Mrs. Piper – editing is exhausting because of commas. it’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.
i know “punchy” is best, but sometimes i just can’t bring myself to make an arbitrary break in the thought. it’s also much more difficult to be an exacting editor on one’s own work than on others’. :]
I think a paragraph of 3-8 sentences is a good length usually. I think it’s good if it focuses on one topic rather than meandering aimlessly from one topic to the next. It forces the writer to discipline himself – something which doesn’t come naturally. It serves the reader. Now, let me see… does this paragraph actually meet those standards? :-)
Well, here’s to hoping THIS doesn’t get 104 responses!
But I’ll take a stab at a basic teleological look at the pargraph.
A prose pargraph should start towards one thing (propostion, solution, tension, etc.), make some progress, and close having accomplished its end or having come up against something that requires a detour or redirection, which is where the next paragraph would pick up.
I’ve never had to do that before. That was helpful.
Following up on Myrddin’s fine post, a paragraph is a unit of meaning in this wonderful God-given gift of language. The point of a paragraph isn’t to follow rules, but to communicate by helping your reader to understand your thoughts in a logical and cohesive way. A good paragraph has unity, continuity, and proportion such that the author can communicate clearly that which he or she is seeking to share with the reader.
A lot of good thoughts here, but most of these definitions focus on the content of paragraphs. But what defines a paragraph can’t only be content-based.
We both speak and write content, however we only write paragraphs. Therefore, there must be something about paragraphs that has to do with writing apart from content.
I would argue that the role of a paragraph is more about layout on the page than what the author is actually saying.
Well, as a 3rd grade teacher, I will bite. I teach paragraph writing as a juicy hamburger. The top bun should state the purpose of the paragraph, and the middle sentences (the meat, cheese, pickles, etc) should give tasty (interesting) details that add to the paragraph. The bottom bun holds it all together, and should transition your last thought into the next paragraph.
With children I do everything I can to pull details from them. With adults I find it interesting that it’s just the opposite, less is more. When does this switch happen from not enough to too much information?
I write like I think. Starting, stopping and lurching about with no rhyme or reason. My paragraphs follow no rules. I start a new one when I jump to a new thought. It’s sloppy and my 3rd grade teacher would die, but it works for me. :)
I think it depends a lot on what genre you are writing. When writing an article I focus a lot on the layout on a page. When writing a paper I focus more on explanation and completion of a thought (more like the “hamburger” Jennifer wrote of above). When writing on my blog, I focus almost entirely on the punch of the sentences, where sometimes I will use a singe-sentence as a paragraph if that makes it pop out more.
You are going to make it controversial, aren’t you Abraham?
Paragraphs as typesetting … sheesh. What’s the world coming to!?!@!@#
:-)
I think I see your point. But, I think we use some form of paragraph “rules” in our speech. There are things we say to indicate to the listener that we are stating a point, giving support to a point, summing up a point, moving on to a new point, ending our delivery of points, wanting them to respond, etc. So, a well-formed oral statement shouldn’t be that far off from a well-formed written statement.
I also think many rules are broken when the context is casual (I’d say my previous paragraph applies more to formal communications). I butcher many writing rules while commenting in blogs or in IM chats, just like I butcher many rules in oral communication when hanging out with friends.
Not sure how this relates fully to my previous comment…
I asked my wife about this, as she worked on a transcription project for someone working on their doctorate. She transcribed several interviews that were in a Q&A format. She said most of the comments were short, but for the longer ones, she would try to use paragraphs, if she felt the person was moving on to a new topic or point. In this case, completely an issue of layout. Had the person been asked to give written responses, she feels the content would be structured differently. Their main content wouldn’t be different, but they would have added in the paragraph formatting that Abraham linked to.
So, I think I agree. My wife’s experience backs up Abraham’s take on this.
A paragraph is a visual unit of thought that seeks to elaborate on a main point. It works with other paragrpaphs (units of thoughts) to fully express a point of view. The length of a paragraph doesnt matter so much as the quality of thinking it seeks to reflect. It’s thinking on paper.
Tony,
You write, “So, a well-formed oral statement shouldn’t be that far off from a well-formed written statement.”
I agree.
But since language is most fundamentally spoken, it is the written word that should submit to how we talk.
If we wrote more like how we speak–even formally–there would be no such thing as long paragraphs.
Abraham-
I was thinking more structure than length in the statement of mine you quoted.
But, you bring up an interesting point. Are you arguing for more efficient writing? Do you think oral communication can be more effective, though, and we should leave the door open for lengthier paragraphs to make up for this?
I didn’t think I cared deeply about paragraph structures. I guess I do (?).
we definitely speak in paragraphs. whether or not the implicit rules for them are just the same as the rules for written paragraphs, i’m not sure.
As a former 3rd grade teacher, I love Jennifer’s hamburger idea:)
I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but in the 2nd lesson from Mining God’s Word, the students are told to mark off sections of the text where the author begins doing something different. I guess this is based on content, though, and you’re really looking for something else.
Personally, I always found it irritating in school to have to adhere to the pattern of topic sentence, details, closing sentence. I preferred to have my first and last sentences of each paragraph to be transitions from the ideas in one paragraph to the next.
And I share Tony’s experience of breaking rules in blogs and conversation.
I’m not sure I agree that a well-structured paragraph will follow the form a well-structured spoken statement. While that will probably work for a very brief statement, in a longer spoken thought (say, a sermon), the method of communication is significantly different. What works really well in a sermon or teaching makes for really difficult reading. Speakers often will stop, take a few minutes on helpful bunny trails, and return to their main thought later. If a book is structured that way, however, the reader can easily become lost. Similarly, repetition is usually necessary in speech, but frustratingly redundant in print. On the flipside, though, if a speaker is religiously concise, only hitting each point once, most of the audience will not remember afterwards what was said.
In length of paragraph, the speech pattern works pretty well (is this the main part you were referring to, Abraham?). In structure and flow of paragraphs, however, I don’t think verbal communication is a very effective template for writing.
This is far too deep for me. I always thought a good paragraph was one side of A4…
Maybe the whole thing about paragraphs is that content dictates form. They can be as sustained or as succinct as you like, provided the content allows for it.
I’m curious, has anyone here read Blindness by Jose Saramago?
I’ve enjoyed this book very much and would add that it has even won a Nobel prize for literature.
I mention this book, in case no one here is familiar with it, specifically because of Saramago’s style. He has paragraphs stretch across pages, never once uses a quotation mark and uses an insane amount of commas; hardly any periods to be found anywhere.
This makes the book a bit difficult to begin with, but eventually, once you’ve settled into it, has the affect of grabbing you by the lapels and dragging you through the narrative almost forcefully, but oddly enough, in a most gentlemanly way.
Sorry, the *effect* of grabbing you…
Sometimes when looking to download new fonts, you’ll see a long sample paragraph of Latin text. Frankly, when people don’t insert paragraph breaks, that’s what it ends up looking like and I lose interest.
Also, in the blog style chosen for 22 Words, the long skinny columns really demand that you insert breaks more often. So while content is important, visual presentation is, too.
There was a guy who posted regulary to the religion blog at USAToday with whom I really agreed on most things, but his posts were all one giant paragraph. Finally, I sent him a message and suggested if he wanted people to read it, he should break it up a bit.
Next, I need to tell him to put spaces between the paragraphs.
“If we wrote more like how we speak–even formally–there would be no such thing as long paragraphs.”
Perhaps. But if we really wanted to write more like how we speak, we need a lot more punctuation symbols for things like “I’m interrupting you!” and “No, I’m talking louder than you to make my point!” and “Just a sec, I’ve got to answer my cell phone.”
I think I’m starting to see what you mean. You’re looking for ways to make paragraphs more visually interesting and easier to read?
Things could end up looking more like a flier than an essay or article. Novels and nonfictions books can look a lot differently, too. Well, I suppose people can organize things any way they like. If you get an editor or a teacher who likes what you’ve chosen, you can be very creative.
My son likes to use bulleted lists in his research papers. I’ve let him get away with it to some degree–I don’t know if future English teachers will.
Fascinating comments, everybody. I haven’t read such a great meditation on paragraphs since… _Eats Shoots and Leaves_, if then. :-)
IS language more fundamentally spoken than written? What about Scripture?
I like Amanda’s idea, that different styles of paragraph-hood and structure are more appropriate to different media. Another interesting study is how media back-affects language structure. You could look at different poem types, sermons, instant messenger, blogs, political speeches, journalism, novels, and on and on.
I love long sentences, well used, and inflict them on others, but paragraphs that stretch for pages and pages make me want to give up and go read something shorter… modern that I am.
I realize this post is older, but I just came across this in my reading and thought I should add it here:
In the “Author Commentaries” section of the anthology The Contemporary American Short Story, Sherman Alexie says:
“I can remember picking up my father’s books before I could read. The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I remember the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph. I didn’t have the vocabulary to say ‘paragraph,’ but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence” (564).
She goes on to describe coming to view “everything in terms of paragraphs.” For example, “Our reservation was a small paragraph within the United States.”