Paragraphs

A paragraph is a basic unit of writing that unites sentences into meaningful groups. Contrary to what many of us were taught in school about the five-sentence paragraphs, a paragraph can be anywhere from one sentence to half a page long as long as it presents ideas in a unified manner. A strong paragraph should be unified around a central or main idea.

A new paragraph can begin:

• when the topic or an aspect of the topic has been fully discussed; or
• when the focus shifts to a new or different thought (or new time or location).

For example, if you are discussing business meetings scheduled for Monday, start a new paragraph when you switch to the discussion of the meetings on Tuesday.

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