7 Guidelines to Carefully Craft Story Paragraphs

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7 Guidelines to Carefully Craft Every Paragraph in your Story – With Reference Links

One of the most unexpectedly difficult tasks in writing is learning how to craft paragraphs. It's simply not a skill that we learn in most schools, and mostly relies on our reading and slowly learning the skill from those authors who have mastered it. However, from what limited resources exist on the internet, we can build a checklist to make sure that all of our paragraphs have a solid foundation, as we learn the craft.

Guideline 1: The first paragraph of your chapter must reveal POV, location, setting, and time of day.

The first thing that we need to know at the opening of every chapter is the sensory information of the POV (point of view) character. We can achieve this by starting with the POV character's name (if there are multiple) and then what he/she immediately sees, feels, tastes, smells—and how the scene is lit (time of day). In fact, this is all best done as the very first line in the chapter.

Guideline 2: Start a new paragraph when the speaker or character doing an action changes.

This is the first and most important rule when switching paragraphs. Switching paragraphs with a new speaker or character performing an action is performing a kindness for your reader, by making it immediately clear that the acting character has changed. It also makes your style more crisp and professional.

Guideline 3: Switch paragraphs to contrasts idea—for example, in a monologue of inner turmoil.

When your character is considering options or considering ideas in an inner monologue (consider “to be or not to be”) switching paragraphs between these ideas, formats them and sets them as two opposing forces. Separating thoughts, and organizing them in paragraph form also keeps your writing from becoming a jumbled mess that the reader glances over.

Guideline 4: Don't be afraid of short paragraphs.

Sometimes your character will say nothing but one word before another character pipes in, or something happens. It is alright, and even encouraged to have short paragraphs where appropriate. Doing so makes the pace of the story more real and more fast, as opposed to a slow drudgery.

Guideline 5: Long paragraphs spiritually tire the reader.

Regardless of how we writers view it, an audience views reading as a task system. And when we give them long paragraphs (a page or half a page long), we are giving them a long task that will tire them, even if they enjoy it. Do not make your audience work to read your writing, make each paragraph an easy and rewarding task.

Guideline 6: Your last paragraph in a chapter should have a solid conclusion.

Like the first paragraph should establish your chapter's beginning, the last one should establish your chapter's end. Consider your chapter a multi-course meal. The first paragraph is the taste, the middle paragraphs are the solid meat and veggies, and the last paragraph is the dessert. Take great care to make the last bite sweet, conclusive, and designed to leave your audience eager for their next meal.

Guideline 7: The flow of paragraphs is fixed in the revision.

Remember, the first draft of your novel is to get a complete story on paper. THAT is your priority. After you have completed that draft, maybe a second, and have taken a break to gain some distance, is when you will use a checklist to make sure that each of your paragraphs is expertly crafted. But first, write!

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