Help For New Writers

Paragraphs

Ah, paragraphs. One of the few thing that will determine whether or not people will want to read your story.

In my own experience, I've looked at fics and decided 'no, I'm not reading that' because the author hadn't put enough paragraphs where they should have, and I couldn't be bothered to read an entire novel written in one paragraph.

Other readers may be doing the same to your fics. But, hopefully this little Wattpad book will be able to help you determine where you should be starting new paragraphs.

A helpful way my college English teacher taught me to remember to start a new paragraph was:

TiPToP

Time
Place
Topic
Person

You should always start a paragraph if the time has changed in your scene. For example, if your scene started in the morning and then you skipped ahead to night, you should start a new paragraph.

The place will also need a new paragraph. I know it sounds odd because 'what if the paragraph describes their journey to that place?' Still start a new paragraph. Make separate paragraphs for the journey and the arrival.

Definitely, definitely start a new paragraph if the topic changes. This was what put me off of a lot of fics as soon as I opened them. While they had good summaries and the writing wasn't too bad (spelling and grammar-wise), the authors merely wrote and wrote, and wrote, and they ended up having several different topics in one giant paragraph.

Please remember to start a new paragraph if the topic/ subject changes.

Now, another pet peeve of mine is when the fic changes POV half-way through with no warning whatsoever. It's 9/10 times completely random and out of the blue, and I have to do a double-take (especially when it all happens within one paragraph).

Always remember, new person, new paragraph. Even when you're not changing POV and you're just talking about a different character, you need a new paragraph.

I hope this helps, and honestly if you need any help, just let me know because I'm more than happy to beta read or give more tips.