Knowing When to Start a New Paragraph How do I decide?

The Big Idea Most people make up their own rules as they go along. Is that a problem? Important for your reader A huge block of writing is discouraging Signals the reader when something is changing Focuses your reader’s attention When do you create paragraphs? Before you begin? As you go? After you finish writing? What are the standard paragraph breaks?

Standard Paragraph Breaks A new idea / new topic is introduced Time moves forward or backward a lot The setting (place) changes A new character comes along A new person is speaking A new event happens or action serves to break up dialogue For dramatic effect

New Topic or Idea Mainly used for informational writing or essays Only ONE topic per paragraph

Time moves backward or forward When you skip some time you must help your reader become oriented to the new time period. Use specific and meaningful words and phrases Later that day, Last year, The next morning, Five hours passed. (spell out numbers under 10 or at that start sentences) They waited and waited. The last time we spoke he told me… Don’t over do time shifts.

Action moves to a new place Begin a new paragraph when characters go to another place Scenes usually happen in one place When characters travel to a new place, a new scene begins. Use a strong or descriptive transition word or phrase to begin A new character enters or is introduced A scene shifts when new characters act in it Your reader needs new information

During Dialog – When a new person speaks Every time you switch speakers, you make a new paragraph. Every Time!!!! That means some paragraphs are really short. Use dialogue tags to identify who is speaking If you put the dialog tag before the quote, or the character does some action before speaking, make it part of the same paragraph

When I was eight, my father dragged me into my bedroom after I lit a folded pile of his shirts on fire. I sat on the edge of the bed, not looking up, my hands folded mannerly in my lap. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “Nothing,” I said. “You lit my shirts on fire, boy! Where’d you learn that?” “Daycare.” “What? Daycare? You learned how to light shirts on fire at daycare?” I froze and looked up the ceiling, trying to backtrack. I actually learned how to light matches by watching him light his pipe, but I couldn’t tell him that. “A kid brought matches one day. I told him matches were bad.” “I’m calling your daycare.” “No,” I said. Okay, I screamed it, and he scowled at me. “Tell me the truth, lad.” I took a deep breath and let is slide out: “I hate your shirts, Dad.”

Action and Dialog in a paragraph Break long stretches of dialogue up with snatches of action. Creates a positive effect on the rhythm of the piece Changing things up makes conversation flow smoothly Keeps the reader engaged Helps make pictures in the reader’s mind Brings scenes to life Makes the story real. People don’t always reply with words. Neither should characters.

For Dramatic Effect When you want a paragraph to stand out When you want to slow a reader down Don’t overdo it