514 Poplar Avenue,
April the eighteenth.
[Paragraphs]
[88a.] The first lines of paragraphs are uniformly indented, in manuscript, about an inch; in print, somewhat less. After a sentence, the remainder of a line should not be left blank, except at the end of a paragraph.
[b.] The length of a paragraph is ordinarily from fifty to three hundred words, depending on the importance or complexity of the thought. In exposition, the paragraphs should be long enough to develop every idea thoroughly. Scrappy expository paragraphs arouse the suspicion that the writer is incoherent, or that he has not given sufficient thought to the subject. Short paragraphs are permissible, and even desirable, in the following cases:
1. In a formal introduction to the main body of a discourse, or in the formal conclusion. (In some instances the paragraph may consist of a single sentence.)
2. In the body of a composition, when a brief logical transition between two longer paragraphs is necessary.
3. In short compositions on complex subjects, where space forbids the development of each thought on a proper scale. (But, as a rule, the student should limit his subject to a few simple ideas, each of which can be developed fully.)
4. In newspapers, where brevity and emphasis are required. (But the student should not take the journalistic style as a model.)
5. In description or narration meant to be vivid, vigorous, or rapid.
6. In dialogue.