I came across a piece of advice from J A Konrath last night; break up paragraphs and have lots of indentations, to make a book easier to read. I had a look at a couple of mystery novels, and sure enough, they followed this pattern. Then I had a look at some fantasy and historical novels (which I think are very similar). Paragraphs are consistently longer, with a lot fewer indentations. Harry Potter is somewhere in the middle. So how long should a paragraph be? Would the short paragraph style work in adult fantasy?
Posted by rstegman (Member # 3233) on :
I heard about one book where it was all one parigraph.
Usually, a paragraph is one thought.
edited for typing error
[This message has been edited by rstegman (edited July 14, 2008).]
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :
quote:I heard about one book where it was all one parigraph.
Was it Le Guin?
I have heard the same, but I think it applies too loong half-page paragraphs.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
I think it boils down to a blend of author preference and editor insistence. Shorter paragraphs help keep weaker readers engaged, and (I believe) are more suited to fast-paced storytelling. Longer paragraphs can scare off some readers.
My personal preference (for all it's worth) agrees with the above: the one-thought/one-paragraph idea. If I realize while I'm writing that I've moved onto a different thought or kernel of notion, I start a new paragraph.
Of course, I'm still unpublished, so I would imagine my advice is borderline-useless.
[This message has been edited by Rhaythe (edited July 14, 2008).]
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
I don't think that it has to be one thought so much as be on the same subject--similar but not quite the same.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
My experience is that you should use shorter paragraphs to avoid turning off readers. My experience isn't based on fiction, though. It's based on problems I've had in the work world in writing detailed emails. I have received feedback from countless very smart and motivated people who had trouble reading my emails because of the lack of paragraphs/break points.
My issue is that I stream-of-consciousness so much that it's not always obvious where the break in thinking is. For instance, I just went back to break at "My issue." It took me a long time to develop the self-editing skill to go back and look for these things, but I believe my thoughts are conveyed more effectively and now people really read my longer emails.
Large blocks of uninterrupted text are harder to read, whether the reader is a strong reader or not. It's a good practice to check yourself and make sure you're not using overly long paragraphs. If a long paragraph is necessary to finish a thought/make a point/complete a subject, so be it - but if you find that most of your paragraphs last 3/4 of a manuscript-formatted (12 pt courier, double spaced, 1 inch margin) page or more, you might want to assess whether there are logical break points earlier in the text.
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
KayTi, I've encountered similar advice about shorter sentences being easier to read. My inclination is to ignore it, and just paragraph as I see fit, using my instinct, primarily, to guide me.
Paragraphing is a tool in prose, just like any other stylistic convention. Because readers tend to be most impacted by either the first line or the last, you have a tremendous opportunity to add resonance to your meaning.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited July 14, 2008).]
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
It's a minor bugaboo with me about my own writing, that the paragraphs seem short and thin. Rarely do they run more than six or seven lines...usually they're much shorter, especially if they're in dialog...I worry that I'm not putting enough information in them...but then worry about the writing getting too baroque and wordy if I do put more in them...
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Hemingway had sentences over 250 words (a page in proper format) let alone paragraphs.
I think it was Algis Budrys that said "a paragraph should be as long as the writer thinks it needs to be".
However, I've noticed that larger paragraphs are generally:
More intimidating on a reader
Filled with redundancies or sentences that could be better trimmed
Have descriptions of unfamiliar milieus or characters in the body (particularly true of fantasy)
Are otherwise pendantic
That's not to say that this is always the case.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited July 14, 2008).]
Posted by RobertB (Member # 6722) on :
I dislike long paragraphs, and I often cut them down in editing. Then it makes me hesitate when I open books in the same genre and find long paragraphs. I'll stick to what I'm comfortable with. Sentences are more of a problem, as I tend to use lots of semicolons, and then badly need to cut them down. I need to cultivate better habits so I make them reasonably short the first time!
