Writing Tips

12 - Splitting into Paragraphs

When writing any story – whether they are one shots or books with multiple chapters – splitting your writing into paragraphs is a must.

The reasons?

Firstly, it makes stories easier to read.

Second, it indicates scene breaks, which are very important to maintaining the right pace for the story.

Another thing to be noted is that dialogues are to be written as separate paragraphs as well. Even if it's a small sentence of – "Yes," he said. – it has to be written as a separate paragraph. I'm very particular about this point being followed. It's a must for stories I read.

Let's look at an example – this is taken from Chapter 3 – New Reality of my DBZ Future Trunks Fanfic 'Guardians'

When we had stopped, I came to realize that whoever it was who had brought me here had an arm wrapped around my waist and another covering my mouth. My back was pressed up against his hard chest as I sat between his legs with a hand involuntarily placed on his knee for support. My screams were muffled out by his hand and my struggling was just as in vain as it was with Seventeen and more tears escaped my eyes as I thought of all the worst things that could happen to me now. "You have to stop struggling, please....we have to stay quiet to make sure the Androids don't find us." I heard the guy holding me whisper. I tensed for a moment but relaxed a bit because unlike that of Seventeen or Eighteen, this guy's voice was gentle and comforting. His presence too was somehow warm and I couldn't help but feel that I could trust him and that I would be safe. We waited silently for heaven knows how long but tensed when we heard footsteps and voices. Instinctively, I grasped the fabric of the guy's pant in my hand, my eyes widening and my breathing picking up speed in nervousness. "They're not here, it seems." Seventeen muttered. "Well, the brat has always been good at hiding and then running away when he knows he can't win. Honestly, he just doesn't give up." Eighteen said. "But it's fun toying with him, isn't it?" "I suppose it is. But he's gone for now. We'll run into him and the girl again so let's take care of them then. Let's go now – or if you want to look for them for longer, I'll go off on my own." Eighteen said, sounding annoyed. "Jeez, you're so short tempered. Fine, let's go." Seventeen said and their footsteps disappeared. The guy behind me uncovered my mouth and shifted to get a glimpse of the two people leaving and closed my eyes while letting out a sigh of relief. My shoulders slumped and I bit my lip, glad that I was alive and so grateful to whoever it is who had saved me. "They're finally gone..." The guy said in relief and resumed his previous position. "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you too much, did they?" "I'm okay....I guess. But, um...." I said and squirmed, feeling awkward that he was still holding me around the waist. "O-oh! I'm sorry!" He said flustered and let go of me. I scooted away from him a bit and finally got to see what he looked like. He was a boy, my age or just a bit older, with straight and pale lavender hair styled in a mushroom cut and beautiful blue eyes. He wore a snug fit black shirt with a blue jacket over it, baggy dark grey pants and yellow boots. I noticed a strap across his chest and the hilt of a sword was visible behind his right shoulder. He was really muscular and overall handsome, causing a light blush to rise onto my cheeks.

See how jumbled the above paragraph looks? Everything has been stuffed together and it's not only strenuous on the eyes to read so much continuously but it also gets a bit confusing in between, especially when dialogues are being read. Now let's see how it has actually been written and published in my book.

When we had stopped, I came to realize that whoever it was who had brought me here had an arm wrapped around my waist and another covering my mouth. My back was pressed up against his hard chest as I sat between his legs with a hand involuntarily placed on his knee for support. My screams were muffled out by his hand and my struggling was just as in vain as it was with Seventeen and more tears escaped my eyes as I thought of all the worst things that could happen to me now.

"You have to stop struggling, please....we have to stay quiet to make sure the Androids don't find us," I heard the guy holding me whisper. I tensed for a moment but relaxed a bit because unlike that of Seventeen or Eighteen, this guy's voice was gentle and comforting. His presence too was somehow warm and I couldn't help but feel that I could trust him and that I would be safe.

We waited silently for heaven knows how long but tensed when we heard footsteps and voices. Instinctively, I grasped the fabric of the guy's pant in my hand, my eyes widening and my breathing picking up speed in nervousness.

"They're not here, it seems," Seventeen muttered.

"Well, the brat has always been good at hiding and then running away when he knows he can't win. Honestly, he just doesn't give up," Eighteen said.

"But it's fun toying with him, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is. But he's gone for now. We'll run into him and the girl again so let's take care of them then. Let's go now – or if you want to look for them for longer, I'll go off on my own," Eighteen said, sounding annoyed.

"Jeez, you're so short tempered. Fine, let's go," Seventeen said and their footsteps disappeared.

The guy behind me uncovered my mouth and shifted to get a glimpse of the two people leaving and closed my eyes while letting out a sigh of relief. My shoulders slumped and I bit my lip, glad that I was alive and so grateful to whoever it is who had saved me.

"They're finally gone..." the guy said in relief and resumed his previous position. "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you too much, did they?"

"I'm okay....I guess. But, um...." I said and squirmed, feeling awkward that he was still holding me around the waist.

"O-oh! I'm sorry!" he said flustered and let go of me.

I scooted away from him a bit and finally got to see what he looked like. He was a boy, my age or just a bit older, with straight and pale lavender hair styled in a mushroom cut and beautiful blue eyes. He wore a snug fit black shirt with a blue jacket over it, baggy dark grey pants and yellow boots. I noticed a strap across his chest and the hilt of a sword was visible behind his right shoulder. He was really muscular and overall handsome, causing a light blush to rise onto my cheeks.

It's a lot easier to read now, isn't it? And can you notice the subtle change in scenes when you jump from paragraph to paragraph? If you're a little like me, you would probably play out the scene in your mind like how it could be on TV in Anime style, with the camera position shifting from zooming in on Trunks' face and then on the face of the OC and then maybe showing both of them sitting close to each other in the same frame. The splitting of the paragraphs helps get this mental picture since we stimulate our creativity and imagination when we read something – these are things that I've noticed in most of the paperback books I've read, published by actual professional writers.

Note: Ahem, yes, I just had to choose Trunks' and my OC's first meeting for this...they're awkwardness with each other is cute, isn't it? >.<

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