What's The Deal with Paragraphs?

Howdy all! So. What is the deal with paragraphs? This is something I had a lot of problems with when I started writing as a kid. It always seem a bit useless to worry about creating paragraphs. There is, though, a major benefit to creating paragraphs – organization.

All a paragraph really is, is a way organize and arrange the information in your report or story. Don't think of paragraphs as some useless, redundant, and pointless element of literature. It can take a while to get used to using paragraphs properly, but once you do, you'll notice that your writing becomes much more coherent and easy to read. Imagine reading a book that didn't utilize paragraphs. First of all, keeping track of where you are on a page can become rather difficult. Also, if paragraphs are used incorrectly, it become an inconvenience for the read because sentences will change their topic without warning.

Every paragraphs should have its own theme. Notice how in the first paragraph of this article, I introduced my topic, but didn't actually talk about it until the next paragraph. This is how paragraphs are used as a way to organize information. They are a way of separating your topics.

I've always been asked, “But Logan! How long should my paragraphs be?” This is very simple question to answer. There is no answer. If you remember from secondary school, you were always told that a paragraph should have between 5 and 7 sentences. Any more or less, and it's incorrect. I was never sure why teachers said that, because it couldn't be farther from the truth. Your paragraph only needs to be long enough to incorporate all of your information about a given topic. Some paragraphs are only 1 sentence in fact, especially when dealing with dialog.

When you are about to transition from one paragraph to another, you might want to create an entry part. Have a look a the end of my first paragraph. Notice that I ended the paragraph by telling you what my next paragraph was going to be about. Also, notice that each on of my paragraphs has its own mini exposition. I should have a good idea about what your paragraph is about by just reading the first sentence.

These are just some tips to help you create more interesting and organized paragraphs. Don't over think things and don't make paragraphs a hassle. Once you get used to it, there really isn't anything intimidating or annoying about it. It just comes natural.

Exposition

Good morning everyone! Today we're going to be talking about exposition. I'm sure you've all heard of the elements of a story in secondary school. Well I hope to elaborate on those elements in ways you haven't heard in school before to help you write a piece that will grab and keep your audience.

Exposition is the first element of a story. You could think of it as the introduction – introducing the story, characters, and what the general plot might be. Take a look at the first paragraph of this article and break it apart. Notice that the first thing I did was address my audience – you guys. Sometimes it's a good idea to do this, but other times, not so much. This is a nonfiction blog, which is considered informal writing. If you were writing a fiction story – a romance novel for example – you wouldn't address you're audience directly. The same goes for most persuasive writing. There is no need to address your audience directly in that case because it is simply not that important. The reader doesn't really care who is speaking, they just want to here what you have to say.

The next thing you'll notice about my first paragraph is that I took the time to tell you exactly what I was going to be talking about. Now, this works differently if you were writing a story, but I'll address that in a moment. In an article like this on, you'll want to let your reader know exactly what it is you want to talk about. Your reader isn't going to want to continue reading if they don't even know what they are reading. Be sure to make your point quickly and efficiently, not taking up too much of the readers time. In nonfiction writing, you need to remember to get to the point quickly whilst still writing in such a way that the reader doesn't get bored.

Remember that I said this is different for fictional writing. In a fiction story, the exposition still has some of its basic components, but it is entirely different in how it displays them. A good story will develop over time, slowly revealing more and more details to the reader. In some cases (such as mystery novels), the reader may not even know exactly what's going to happen until the very end. Because of this, you don't want to oversaturate your exposition with information. It should include an introduction of your main characters, as well as setting the general mood of the piece. If I'm reading a romance novel, I should be able to tell that it's a romance novel by the end of the exposition. It's worth noting that the exposition in a fiction work may be a anywhere from a few paragraphs to a few chapters in length. It all depends on how long it takes to say what you need to say in the most captivating way possible.

Below, I've included an example of a fiction and nonfiction exposition. I always like to include sources other than my own so you can see things in writing styles other than my own. Everyone writes differently. Notice how they utilize the elements I just spoke of.

NONFICTION:

“Information moves, or we move to it. Moving to it has rarely been popular and is growing unfashionable; nowadays we demand that the information come to us. This can be accomplished in three basic ways: moving physical media around, broadcasting radiation through space, and sending signals through wires. This article is about what will, for a short time anyway, be the biggest and best wire ever made.”

– “Mother Earth Mother Board” by Neal Stephenson. “http://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/”

FICTION:

“FOR the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not -- and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events. In their consequences, these events have terrified -- have tortured -- have destroyed me. Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me, they have presented little but Horror -- to many they will seem less terrible than barroques. Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place -- some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.”
– “The Black Cat” by Edger Allen Poe. “http://poestories.com/read/blackcat”

' Or "

Hey guys. I've been seeing a lot of people lately confused about the usage of the symbol ' and the symbol ". I cannot tell you how many times I've seen someone state a quote using the impropper symbol, so this is just a quick, easy lesson.

'   That's an apostrophe. Use it ONLY to create a contraction, or show ownership

"   That's a quotation. Use this only to set off a line of dialogue, quote someone, to uses words that aren't actually words (Ex. "Death-like"), or in some cases, to show sarcasm

That's it. End of lesson. :)

Using Wikipedia in Research

If you’ve ever had to do a research paper before, the title of this article may surprise you. We’re all told in school that Wikipedia is never a good source to use for research because it is a wiki space that anyone can edit. This is true, but I’m going to tell you that you’ve been using Wikipedia all wrong, and it is in fact an excellent source to find information on a topic.

If you don’t know what a wiki is, it’s basically a site the gives information on a specific topic that anyone can edit at any time. This poses a problem for Wikipedia because it makes it an invalid source of information in research. However, it always surprises me how few people actually know how to use Wikipedia properly. If you scroll down to the bottom of any Wikipedia article, you’ll see a references section. This is the bibliography that denotes every single source from which the information in the article was derived. You can click on those links and read the books listed there to find the information you’re looking for. In this way, Wikipedia becomes less of a wiki and more of a search engine. This applies not only to Wikipedia, but to any wiki, really.

This method of research is absolutely great for writing assignments in school or just for research in general. There are, in some cases, articles that do not have anything listed in the references section. These are the articles you’ll want to be careful of. If the author hasn’t provided a source to prove his information correct, it’s probably not an article you should take very seriously. There may also be a “see also” section following the article. In many cases, this can be very helpful also in finding information on sub topics pertaining to your research.

Please pass this information on. I hate to see people struggle with research when a perfectly good source of information is staring them in the face, just because their teacher or professor told them Wikipedia is a “banned” website.

Choose Better Words #2

Synonymy of 'important':

Crucial, Imperative, Serious, Significant, Urgent

What should I write about? (Nonfiction)

Hi everyone! I'm back again with that article on nonfiction inspiration finding - just like I promised :)

Coming up with ideas for nonfiction works is a bit less stressful. If you're writing an essay for college, you probably already have a topic to write about, so this is more geared toward people who want to write and publish a nonfiction work. Now there's something you should know about nonfiction. There are two basic writing styles in nonfiction. Possibility A: you're writing a paper in which you have to do research about a topic in order to formulate some sort of research paper, maybe for school or work. Possibility B: you already know a lot about a topic and want to write an ebook (or something of that nature) to teach people what you know. Maybe, even, you want to do blog.

Let's talk about scenario A first. In this case, there is good chance you already know what it is you want to research, but if not, just choose something that interests you. I happen to be really passionate about English and have hopes of one day being an English teacher, so I started this blog to do that. Think about those things that interest you and write about them! You can turn almost any topic into a nonfiction essay topic. Want to spend your time writing an essay on video games instead of on the physiological effects of longterm isolation in 3rd world countries? No problem! You can write an essay on how video games affect the brain and the affect they have on a person's life. Don't hear the term “research paper” and instantly get bummed out. I see this happen way too often. A student is given an assignment to write a paper on a topic of their choosing, and they instantly make the project miserable for themselves. Don't be that person. Write about what you love, and you won't go wrong. In fact, it will probably come out better than an essay on a topic you've never even heard of until now.

Let's now talk about scenario B. Writing ebooks, starting blogs, YouTube channels, and other ways of expressing one's self are become very popular these days. So let's assume there is something you already know lots about – like video games, for example. There is a bit of a problem posed in this case that was not apparent in the first scenario, and that is: will people really want to read your ebook on video games? Of course not. Why read a book about games when I can just go play one? This is why, in this situation, you have to make your audience want to read you work. You can do this a number of way. The most popular way is to combine your passion with something people want to read. Think of it this way. I don't want to read a report on the growth of watermelon, but I would love to read a report on recipes using watermelon for a party I'm throwing. That is where you, as the writer, come in. Anyone can write about something they know, but it takes time to turn what you know into something people would love to see.

I really hoped this helped you guys. I know this article may seem a bit more boring than the previous, but that's just how nonfiction goes. It can be a bit more “blah” than fiction. I'll be uploading an article next week on how to conduct research for a nonfiction work. It will be way more interesting. Trust me :)

Choose Better Words #1

Synonyms of 'Different':

Contrasting, Varying, Diverse, Distinct, Contrary