“Enormous blocks of print look formidable to readers, who are reluctant to tackle them” (Strunk & White, 17).
It’s 11:00 p.m. You finally open your textbook to begin the required reading, reading that is due the next morning at 8:00 a.m. The first page is one unbroken block of text—no pictures, no colors, no paragraph breaks. You feel your motivation deflate.
And when your professor sits down to grade your writing, she will feel the same way about your unbroken blocks of text. This is such an easy problem to solve, and fixing it once and for all will directly result in better grades on your writing assignments. This is an untested psychological theory I have based on solid research of how grumpy I feel when I’m grading a paper with only one paragraph.
So, how do you know when to start a new paragraph? An ill-kept secret about paragraph decisions is that they are not 100% scientific. However, here are 5 perfectly good reasons to indent:
1. Topic change
You are moving on to the next point or item in the rubric, or you are moving on to your next example that illustrates the current point.
Example (don’t judge, I made this up off the top of my head):
When struggling for self-motivation toward completing a task, break the task down into a numerical list with built-in rewards. For example, I might tell myself that I need to read 7 pages of text, and then I can have a snack. More often than not, I find that I’m able to exceed my minimum number of pages, and even if I don’t, at least I’ve begun the task, and I’m more likely to actually go back to it after my Oreo cookie. This relates to an important motivational principle called the completion-ratio principle [settle down, guys, I made this up…it’s an example]. The completion-ratio principle says that motivation to complete a task increases as the percentage of a task is accomplished. Storbert and Norbert’s (2017) entirely fabricated study of first-year college students established this correlation. They found that students who created a numerical list with built-in rewards were more likely to complete academic tasks.
That paragraph was getting awkwardly long. But look how simple it is to fix:
When struggling for self-motivation toward completing a task, break the task down into a numerical list with built-in rewards. For example, I might tell myself that I need to read 7 pages of text, and then I can have a snack. More often than not, I find that I’m able to exceed my minimum number of pages, and even if I don’t, at least I’ve begun the task, and I’m more likely to actually go back to it after my Oreo cookie.
This example relates to an important motivational principle called the completion-ratio principle [settle down, guys, I made this up…it’s an example]. The completion-ratio principle says that motivation to complete a task increases as the percentage of a task is accomplished. Storbert and Norbert’s (2017) entirely fabricated study of first-year college students established this correlation. They found that students who created a numerical list with built-in rewards were more likely to complete academic tasks.
Much better!
2. Paragraph length
Strictly speaking, academic paragraphs should be no fewer than 3-4 sentences in length.
The first sentence is the topic sentence, followed by details or explanation about the topic sentence, and finally a smooth transition into the next paragraph. See why there should be at least 3? Academic paragraphs are actually longer than that most of the time, but academic writers are notorious for going on for way too long without giving the reader a break. Don’t be one of those people.
3. New speaker
Wait, why are you writing dialogue in an academic paper? I don’t know, but if you are, then every time a different person speaks, give that person a new paragraph. (This is why reading pages of dialogue is more fun—and speedy.)
4. Stylistic reasons
This is also not as relevant for academic writing, but since you’re already interested in mastering paragraph breaks, I’ll leave it here for you anyhow. Let’s say you want to indicate a feeling of speed or building suspense as a story unfolds. You could use shorter paragraphs to help create that feeling of movement.
5. Your current paragraph is going on too long
Yes, I realize this advice could hardly be called precise, but sometimes you just need to let the reader breathe. Am I suggesting a random paragraph break? Not really, but sort of. Try to think about where a break would make the most sense in your current paragraph, and just make an executive decision to put one there. It’s a small and easily carried out act of courtesy for your reader.
If you are going to the trouble of writing something anyway, take steps to ensure that your work is actually going to be read. Of course, the ability to create appealing paragraphs is but one factor in the readability of your writing, but it certainly helps. And the next time you leaf through a scholarly tome and are greeted with a formidable block of unbroken text, feel free to tsk audibly in disgust, because you now know better than to do that to your readers.
Disclaimer: There’s just no escaping long paragraphs at times, especially in academic writing. However, try to at least balance a long paragraph or two with a shorter one, possibly a brief summary of a longer paragraph.
Citation: Strunk, W. & White, E. (2000). The elements of style. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
