I don't know how many stories I have come across that have had a really good plot but have been nearly impossible to read. This book is a list of ten different things that can improve your writing. Most of them have to do with grammar.
This is a really big problem that I've seen here on Wattpad.
Paragraphs exist for a reason. When all your text is in one solid block, it gets very difficult to read.
My English teacher taught us a very good way of remembering when to start a new paragraph. It's called the "TiP ToP tips of paragraphing".
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Ti : Time
P: Place
To: Topic
P: Person
Time: Always start a new paragraph when there is a change in time. If the first part of your story takes place in the morning and the next part takes place in the afternoon, each part should be in a separate paragraph.
Place: When you switch places in your story, the new place should be in a new paragraph. If your character starts off in his bedroom then goes to his kitchen, the part in the kitchen should be in a new paragraph.
Topic: This one is more for essays than stories, but when you change topics, the new topic should be in a new paragraph. For example, if you're writing about different kinds of fruit, berries would be in one paragraph and citrus fruit would be in another.
Person:
This is the one that I have seen ignored most here on Wattpad. This rule is simple: when a new person starts speaking, you start a new paragraph. When this rule is ignored, it gets very confusing to read and very difficult to keep track of who's talking.
Here is an example from Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess.
This is a section of the chapter "Becky" written as one paragraph:
Sara felt rather hot-tempered. "I knew she was listening," she said. "Why shouldn't she?" Lavinia tossed her head with great elegance. "Well," she remarked, "I do not know whether your mamma would like you to tell stories to servant girls, but I know my mamma wouldn't like me to do it." "My mamma!" said Sara, looking odd. "I don't believe she would mind in the least. She knows that stories belong to everybody."
This is the same section, now written exactly as it is in the book:
Sara felt rather hot-tempered.
"I knew she was listening," she said. "Why shouldn't she?"
Lavinia tossed her head with great elegance.
"Well," she remarked, "I do not know whether your mamma would like you to tell stories to servant girls, but I know my mamma wouldn't like me to do it."
"My mamma!" said Sara, looking odd. "I don't believe she would mind in the least. She knows that stories belong to everybody."
