Paragraph Length
PROGRAM: “IN A WORD”
EPISODE: PARAGRAPH LENGTH
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Candace Hastings with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
You may have been taught that a paragraph should be at least three sentences long. Or five. Or between three and seven. Or no more than eight. The only consensus seems to be that there is no consensus.
The concept of dividing texts into paragraphs goes back at least as far as Ancient Greece, where changes in speaker or topic were indicated in manuscripts with an underline or other mark. Now we indicate a paragraph break by indenting or adding an extra line space. However we indicate it, a paragraph break is just that—a break for the reader.
Come on, admit it: if you turn the page in a textbook on some dry and highly technical subject matter and come face-to-face with a full page of unbroken, wall-to-wall text, well, you die a little inside. That’s because a paragraph break provides a tiny pause in the visual action, a little time-out that gives us, as readers, a fraction of a second to refocus.Without those breaks, we lose focus.
So how do you, as an author, decide when it’s time for a paragraph break? The usual recommendation is to start a new paragraph whenever you introduce a new topic. That’s sound advice, but it’s also important to consider where your words will be seen.
In newspapers, for example, most paragraphs are only one or two sentences long. Newspapers are traditionally laid out in very narrow columns, meaning multi-sentence paragraphs would produce big, clunky blocks of solid text. So, shorter paragraphs are more visually appealing. These short paragraphs also suit the purpose of a newspaper, where people are looking to get information quickly.
The same holds true for things we read online, where we tend to scan rapidly for information. So it makes sense to keep paragraphs short there, too.
In addition to thinking about where your words will appear, it’s important to consider the effect you want to have on your reader. For instance, you can use paragraph breaks to create emphasis. You might want to put an especially dramatic observation in a single-sentence paragraph. Surrounded by longer paragraphs, that quick one-sentence block of text will definitely garner extra attention.
So don’t be afraid to use paragraphs as a tool to create the effect you want, whether that’s adding emphasis or giving readers a little mental break.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Candace Hastings, helping you make every word count.
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
EPISODE: PARAGRAPH LENGTH
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Candace Hastings with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
You may have been taught that a paragraph should be at least three sentences long. Or five. Or between three and seven. Or no more than eight. The only consensus seems to be that there is no consensus.
The concept of dividing texts into paragraphs goes back at least as far as Ancient Greece, where changes in speaker or topic were indicated in manuscripts with an underline or other mark. Now we indicate a paragraph break by indenting or adding an extra line space. However we indicate it, a paragraph break is just that—a break for the reader.
Come on, admit it: if you turn the page in a textbook on some dry and highly technical subject matter and come face-to-face with a full page of unbroken, wall-to-wall text, well, you die a little inside. That’s because a paragraph break provides a tiny pause in the visual action, a little time-out that gives us, as readers, a fraction of a second to refocus.Without those breaks, we lose focus.
So how do you, as an author, decide when it’s time for a paragraph break? The usual recommendation is to start a new paragraph whenever you introduce a new topic. That’s sound advice, but it’s also important to consider where your words will be seen.
In newspapers, for example, most paragraphs are only one or two sentences long. Newspapers are traditionally laid out in very narrow columns, meaning multi-sentence paragraphs would produce big, clunky blocks of solid text. So, shorter paragraphs are more visually appealing. These short paragraphs also suit the purpose of a newspaper, where people are looking to get information quickly.
The same holds true for things we read online, where we tend to scan rapidly for information. So it makes sense to keep paragraphs short there, too.
In addition to thinking about where your words will appear, it’s important to consider the effect you want to have on your reader. For instance, you can use paragraph breaks to create emphasis. You might want to put an especially dramatic observation in a single-sentence paragraph. Surrounded by longer paragraphs, that quick one-sentence block of text will definitely garner extra attention.
So don’t be afraid to use paragraphs as a tool to create the effect you want, whether that’s adding emphasis or giving readers a little mental break.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Candace Hastings, helping you make every word count.
[5 TO 10 SEC OF MUSIC]