The Writer's Desk Book / Being a Reference Volume upon Questions of Punctuation, Capitalization, Spelling, Division of Words, Indention, Spacing, Italics, Abbreviations, Accents, Numerals, Faulty Diction, Letter Writing, Postal Regulations, Etc.

by William Dana Orcutt

PARAGRAPHING

Indention and Display are the methods employed in typography to secure clearness and to add distinction to the printed page, but clearness in the body of the text is dependent upon the skill of the writer in properly dividing his composition into paragraphs. Just as correct punctuation assists the reader in his understanding of a sentence, so does correct paragraphing add to the understanding of the composition as a whole. The following rules may be formulated, based upon the practice of the most careful writers:

1. A sentence which continues the topic of the sentence which precedes it rather than introduces a new topic should never begin a paragraph.

2. Each paragraph should possess a single central topic, to which all the statements in the paragraph should relate. The introduction of a single statement not so related to the central topic violates the unity.

3. A sentence or short passage may be detached from the paragraph to which it properly belongs if the writer wishes particularly to emphasize it.

4. For ease in reading, a passage which exceeds three hundred words in length may be broken into two paragraphs, even though no new topic has been developed.

5. Any digression from the central topic, or any change in the viewpoint in {58} considering the central topic, demands a new paragraph.

6. Coherence in a paragraph requires a natural and logical order of development.

7. Smoothness of diction in a paragraph calls for the intelligent use of proper connective words between closely related sentences. A common fault, however, is the incorrect use of such words as and or but between sentences which are not closely related.

8. In developing the paragraph, emphasis is secured by a careful consideration of the relative values of the ideas expressed, giving to each idea space proportionate to its importance to the whole. This secures the proper climax.

9. The paragraph, like the composition itself, should possess clearness, unity, coherence, and emphasis. It is a group of related sentences, developing a central topic. Its length depends upon the length of the composition and upon the number of topics to be discussed.

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