4a. Design each paragraph around one idea.
- Consider each paragraph a distinct object. As an object, it has one main purpose. Figure out what that purpose is, and highlight that throughout.
- If you are writing in XML, treat each paragraph as an element. What is the subject? What are you trying to do with this element? Why are you including it?
- Press Return. Break up long complicated paragraphs into a series of short ones.
- Throw out irrelevant topics. If they are important, put them in their own paragraphs. If trivial, discard.
- If you cannot figure out what the real point is, your reader cannot either. Make sure that the real point appears in a distinct sentence within the paragraph. If it does not, your paragraph has no core.
- Make all the sentences cohere. Each should contain words that relate to your main topic. Skip the thesaurus, too. If you are referring to the same thing over and over, use the same word.
- See and signal the structure. For instance, if you are working in chronological order, use words such as first, next, and finally.
- Proceed from the familiar to the new, throughout. Start with the known, and end a sentence with the new. Then start the next sentence with that new idea, creating a chain.
Other ways to make chunky paragraphs:
4a. Design each paragraph around one idea.
4b. Put the idea of the paragraph first.
4c. If you must include context, put that first.
4d. Put key conclusions, ideas, news, at the start of the article.
