Learning to write paragraphs is essential for writing quality text. Paragraphs allow you to break up long texts and facilitate the digestion of content by readers. They guide them through the argument by focusing on a main idea or goal. In any case, knowing how to write a well-structured paragraph can be difficult. Read this article and learn how to greatly improve your writing skills.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Plan the Paragraph
Step 1. Decide what the main topic of the paragraph will be
Before you start writing it, you need to get a clear idea of the topic. In fact, basically a paragraph is a collection of sentences that all connect to a central subject. Without a definite idea about the main topic, the paragraph will lack focus and unity. In order to find the right topic, you should ask yourself several questions:
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What indications have you been given?
If you have to write a paragraph following a particular path, such as "You have decided to give money to charity. Which association do you choose and why?" or "Describe your favorite day of the week", you will need to think carefully about the topic and make sure you are talking about it directly, without going off topic.
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What are the main ideas or issues you need to address?
Think about the track you have been assigned or the topic you have decided to write about and consider what ideas or issues are most pertinent about it. Since paragraphs are usually relatively short, it is important to try to work out all the main ideas, without going off topic.
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Who will you write for?
Think about the readers you need to refer to in the paragraph or essay. What do they already know about the subject? Are they familiar with it or are introductory explanations needed?
- If the paragraphs belong to a longer essay, writing a lineup can help you define the main ideas or goals of each paragraph.
Step 2. Write down information and ideas about the topic
Once you have a clearer idea of the topic of the paragraph, you can start organizing your thoughts by jotting down your thoughts on a notepad or Word. For now it is useless to write all the sentences completely, you simply have to write down a few words and key expressions. Once you have everything on paper, the points to be included in the paragraph will be more evident, and you will also understand which are the superfluous parts.
- At this point, you may realize that there is a discrepancy between what you know and the facts and figures you need to look for to support your argument.
- It is good to do this research now, so that all pertinent information is readily available in the writing phase.
Step 3. Determine how you want to structure the paragraph
Now that all your thoughts, ideas, facts and figures are clear in front of you, you can start thinking about the section structure. Consider each point you want to talk about and try to organize them in a logical order - the paragraph will become more coherent and easier to read.
- This new order could be chronological, bring the most important information to the beginning of the paragraph, or make the text easier and more interesting to read - it all depends on the topic and style of the text you want to write.
- Once you have decided on the structure of the paragraph, you can rewrite the points according to this new order. This will help you speed up the drafting process and make it much more immediate.
Part 2 of 3: Writing the Paragraph
Step 1. Write a key phrase
The first sentence of the paragraph must be key. In fact, it is an introductory sentence that talks about the main idea or thesis of the paragraph in question. It should contain the most important and relevant point you want to make about the issue, so summarize the paragraph in its entirety.
- All other sentences you write should support the key phrase, as well as provide further details and discussion points regarding the issues or ideas it raises. If a phrase cannot be directly linked to that key, it should not be included in this specific paragraph.
- More experienced writers can include the key phrase anywhere in the paragraph - it doesn't have to be on the first line. However, novice writers or writers who don't yet know how to structure paragraphs well should start with the key phrase, which will guide them for the rest of the section.
- The key phrase shouldn't be too broad or narrow. In the first case, you will not be able to adequately talk about the ideas in the paragraph. In the second, you won't have enough ideas to discuss.
Step 2. Add support details
Once you have successfully written the key phrase, you can begin completing the rest of the paragraph. This is where detailed and well-structured notes written previously will come in handy. Make sure the paragraph is coherent (which means easy to read and understand), that each sentence links to the next, and that everything is fluent in its entirety. To do this, try to write clear and simple sentences that express exactly what you want to say.
- Connect all the sentences with transitional words, so that a bridge is formed between them. Transitional words can help you make comparisons, contrast, show a sequence, demonstrate cause and effect concatenation, highlight important ideas, and progress smoothly from one idea to another. Such adverbs include "besides", "in fact" and "plus". You can also use chronological transitions, such as "first", "second" and "third".
- Supporting sentences are the heart of the paragraph, so you should write them offering enough evidence to best support the key phrase. Depending on the topic, you can use facts, figures, statistics and examples, or stories, anecdotes and quotes. Anything is fine, as long as it is relevant.
- In terms of length, three to five sentences are usually enough to talk about the main points and adequately support the key sentence, but this varies greatly depending on the topic and the length of the essay you have to write. There is no set length for a paragraph. It should be long enough to properly address the main idea.
Step 3. Write a closing sentence for the paragraph
It should connect all the dots. A good closing sentence will reinforce the idea described in the key sentence, but enriched with all the evidence and arguments contained in the supporting sentences you wrote later. After reading the concluding sentence, the reader should have no doubts about the accuracy or relevance of the paragraph as a whole.
- Don't just rephrase the key phrase. The closing sentence should acknowledge the previous discussion and remind the reader of its importance.
- For example, in a paragraph dealing with the topic "Why is it good to live in Canada?", The concluding sentence could be like this: education system and clean and safe cities, it is possible to conclude that Canada is an ideal place to live."
Step 4. Move on to the next paragraph when you should do it
Sometimes it can be difficult to understand where one paragraph should end and another should begin. Thankfully, there are several guidelines you can follow that can make it obvious when to introduce a new paragraph. The main rule to respect? Whenever you start discussing a new idea, you should move on to a new paragraph. Paragraphs should never contain more than one central idea. If it has multiple points or facets, then each individual aspect should be developed in a separate paragraph.
- A new paragraph should also be used whenever you contrast two points or present each perspective of an argument. For example, if the argument is "Should civil servants receive lower wages?", One paragraph will address the arguments for lowering officials' wages, while another will provide the arguments against.
- Paragraphs make it easier to understand a text and allow readers to pause between new ideas so they can digest the topic. If you think the paragraph you are writing is becoming too complex or contains a number of difficult points, you may want to consider dividing it into individual paragraphs.
- When writing an essay, the introduction and conclusion should always have their own paragraphs. The introductory paragraph should define the purpose of the text and what it is hoped to achieve; in addition, it should give a brief outline of the ideas and issues it will discuss. The concluding paragraph provides a summary of the information and arguments contained in the essay, and clearly states what the text has demonstrated and / or proved. It could also introduce a new idea that opens the reader's mind to the questions raised by the essay.
- If it is a narrative text, you must start a new paragraph with a dialogue when a new character intervenes.
Part 3 of 3: Correct the Paragraph
Step 1. Read it again to fix spelling and grammatical errors
Once you have finished writing, it is essential to reread the paragraph two or three times to assess for poorly written words and grammatical errors. These imperfections can have a significant impact on the perceived quality of the text, even if the ideas and arguments it contains are of high quality. It's pretty easy to overlook small mistakes when drafting, so don't skip this step, even if you're in a hurry.
- Make sure that each sentence has a subject and that all proper names are capitalized. Also, you need to be sure that there is agreement between all subjects and verbs and that the same tense has been used throughout the entire paragraph.
- Use a dictionary to double-check the spelling of words you're not sure about, just don't assume they're correct. You can also use a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms if you think you have exaggerated a certain word. Just remember to look up the synonyms you intend to write to make sure you know the exact meaning. Thesaurus and antonyms group words very broadly, so not all of them have the same definition. For example, it may indicate that "joyful", "ecstatic" and "hilarious" are synonymous with "happy", but each of these words has its own connotation or particular nuance of meaning; it can change the tone and even the meaning of the sentence if you are not careful.
- Reread the paragraph to make sure the punctuation was used well; you need to make sure that signs such as commas, colons, periods and commas, and ellipsis are in the proper context.
Step 2. Reread the paragraph to examine its consistency and style
You must not only evaluate the technical aspects of the writing, but also try to make the text clear and fluent. You can do this by varying the length and format of the sentences, using transitional words and a varied vocabulary.
- The point of view of the text should be consistent throughout the paragraph, therefore throughout the entire essay. For example, if you write in the first person (for example, "I think …"), you shouldn't switch to the passive form ("It is believed that …") out of the blue.
- However, you should also avoid starting each sentence with "I think …" or "I argue that …". Try to vary the format of the sentences, as this will make the paragraph more interesting for the reader and allow him to flow more naturally.
- For novice writers, it's best to stick to short, concise sentences that make the point clearly. Long, disjointed sentences can quickly become inconsistent or become filled with grammatical errors, so try to avoid them until you have more experience as an author.
Step 3. Decide if the paragraph is complete
Once you have reread it and corrected any grammatical or stylistic errors, you should review it to determine if it is ready. Try to examine it objectively and determine if it supports and develops the key phrase sufficiently, or if it needs some more detail or evidence to support your claims.
- If you think that the main point of the key phrase is abundantly supported and well developed by the contents of the rest of the paragraph, then it is complete. However, if an important aspect of the topic remains unexplored or unexplained, or the paragraph contains fewer than three sentences, it probably needs a little more work.
- On the other hand, you may decide that the paragraph is too long and contains superfluous or secondary sentences. In this case, you should correct it so that it only presents relevant information.
- If you think all the content is necessary for your point, but the paragraph is still too long, you should consider breaking it down into several shorter and more specific sections.
Advice
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A paragraph should consist of:
- Key phrase.
- Support phrase or phrases.
- Concluding sentence.
- As you read, note the breakdown of paragraphs. Once you have experience with reading and writing paragraphs, you can automatically divide the text appropriately.
- There are no hard and fast rules on the length of a paragraph. Instead, make sure it has natural breaks. Each paragraph should contain a main idea and evidence to support it.
- When writing in English, always leave an indentation before starting a new paragraph. In this case, the standard requires you to use a 13 mm one.
- Spelling and grammatical errors can damage even the most planned of texts. If you are unsure about something, use an automatic checker or ask someone to read your work.
- If you need to write a conversation, start a new paragraph every time someone starts talking.
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The secret lies in the following factors:
- Unity: You must have a single idea and clearly express the topic.
- Order: The way you organize your sentences allows the reader to understand better.
- Consistency. This feature makes the text understandable. The sentences must be linked together.
- Completeness: All sentences used in a paragraph should convey a complete message.
- Adapt the writing to its purpose. Just as you wear different clothes for various occasions and weather conditions, you should write in a style that fits your goal.
