Is there a general rule to how long a paragraph should be? How about the point to begin a new one?
Paragraph Length
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One rule of thumb I use is: When the focus shifts to a new actor, change paragraphs.
That doesn't cover all situations. In other cases, I start paragraphs by intuition. I don't know what unconscious rules I'm using.
In Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury offered this idea: Think of the scene as movie scene. Every time you would change the camera angle, change paragraphs. (I haven't applied this idea consciously yet.)
Dale
Yeah, I go with the "whenever you switch camera angles" rule of thumb. Sometimes a natural break will present itself before a "camera switch," though.
I don't think there is a real RULE for paragraph breaks (other than when different characters begin to speak, of course.) Generally, you want to break up your text so that it's easier for a reader to parse, and do it in logical areas. Helpful, huh?
I don't think there is a real RULE for paragraph breaks (other than when different characters begin to speak, of course.) Generally, you want to break up your text so that it's easier for a reader to parse, and do it in logical areas. Helpful, huh?
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A paragraph is a group of sentences related to a topic. Shift in topic, new paragraph. Read and analyze -- and hope that the writer knew how to construct paragraphs, because I have read scientific papers that were abominable.
That's something I need to work on too. I don't always know when I should start a new paragraph and when I don't need to. Many times it's obvious but not always.
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The tricky part for me is: What constitutes a shift in topic? To some extent, every sentence changes the topic. To some extent, the whole scene is about a single topic.
What conclusions have you reached from your own analysis?
Dale
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A paragraph is a single thought.
Or....
A paragraph is exactly 100 words. No more, no less.
Your choice.
Or....
A paragraph is exactly 100 words. No more, no less.
Your choice.
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I was told recently that paragraphs should not be longer than 100 words. It was pointed out to me that one of my paragraphs, which was about 300 words, would be longer than a whole paperback page.
I'm do what the authors on my bookshelf did. In my case it looks like the camera angle idea, but that is basically the same as the focus switch thing Dale first mentioned.
How long should a sentence be? How long should a chapter be? How long should a book be? As long as it needs to be, just as with a paragraph.
Not that such a thing is bad. If it needs to be that long--not that it necessarily does--then so be it.
I don't like this idea of thinking of a book in movie format first... In my opinion the written word is so much more powerful and moving than a movie. Though I do agree with it in principle, rather than thinking 'I need a new paragraph when the camera angle changes', I'd much rather think 'I'm starting a new paragraph so the camera angle ought to change too!'
It's a little confusing I know, I had trouble thinking of the right way to phrase it, and some people might think that they are one and the same... but there's a reason we're all writing books and not movies, don't you agree?
It's a little confusing I know, I had trouble thinking of the right way to phrase it, and some people might think that they are one and the same... but there's a reason we're all writing books and not movies, don't you agree?
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When I start to get scared of how big my paragraph is, have someone look across the room or something. Or, another character say, "But why?"
My big paragraphs tend to be rants by characters. My action paragraphs I feel are too choppy. But, eh, life is rough.
My big paragraphs tend to be rants by characters. My action paragraphs I feel are too choppy. But, eh, life is rough.
With the disclaimer that the majority of my paragraphs are shorter rather than longer I will say that I start a new paragraph when:
- A different character starts speaking. (This should be obvious but is an oddly common mistake in newer writers.)
- A different character begins a new action.
- To bring emphasis to a certain action.
- Because it feels right.
And here's an example out of my current WIP.
This demonstrates the latter two points rather than the first two. (The first two should be fairly self-explanatory.) Some would probably put all of the above in a single paragraph. I broke it up because I wanted attention on the line As he expected... and I broke the third paragraph off separately because (in my mind) it seemed a different thought and felt better that way.
- A different character starts speaking. (This should be obvious but is an oddly common mistake in newer writers.)
- A different character begins a new action.
- To bring emphasis to a certain action.
- Because it feels right.
And here's an example out of my current WIP.
This demonstrates the latter two points rather than the first two. (The first two should be fairly self-explanatory.) Some would probably put all of the above in a single paragraph. I broke it up because I wanted attention on the line As he expected... and I broke the third paragraph off separately because (in my mind) it seemed a different thought and felt better that way.
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I strongly suspect that Jim's "A paragraph is exactly 100 words. No more, no less." quip was intended as a joke to direct your attention to the correct answer, "A paragraph is a single thought." There is no rule of thumb regarding 100 words, that I'm aware of.
-Derek
Put me in the "single thought" category too. This is one of those situations where it helps to read as much as humanly possible. After a while, you can see and feel the rhythm and flow and you can apply that to your own work. Read widely; it helps.
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I say we promote it as a rule and name it after Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim's Paragraph Rule.
I'm not a fan of the movie analogy, since many modern movies have camera changes on average every second of screen time. That would lead to a book with nothing but one sentence paragraphs. No thanks.
That's what I had been doing. I just wanted to know if there was some sort of rule that I should be following. The information I received here was helpful.
Opps
, I somehow missed your reply. I fell for the "exactly 100 words" quip hook, line, and sinker. Silly me. Thanks, because I would've probably had better luck retrieving the rock that David used to kill Goliath with.
, I somehow missed your reply. I fell for the "exactly 100 words" quip hook, line, and sinker. Silly me. Thanks, because I would've probably had better luck retrieving the rock that David used to kill Goliath with.
One of the things I've noticed is the amount of white space on the page (which is to a large extent governed by the length of paragraphs) has an effect on the actual pace of the reader's eye moving down the page and this has a knock-on effect on the perceived pace of the story. So I tend to write longer paragraphs for slow, reflective scenes, and shorter paragraphs for action scenes. This works for dialogue too. I've been doing it instinctively to some extent, but since I noticed the effect I've been trying to do it deliberately. I think it works...
My own personal rule - never make a paragraph long enough to fill a page. Preferably keep paragraphs short enough to fit at least three to a page.
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