FIVE ELEMENTS OF PARAGRAPH WRITING
Do you think your writing doesn’t have any weight? Does it look unimpressive?
I also used to think like that during my preparation.
If you have just started writing, you might have sensed that your writing is not focused, and that it does not have that beautiful flow that you find in the writing of other writers.
Sometimes, you might also feel that the paragraphs or essays that you are writing still miss something.
What you are actually missing are the “ELEMENTS OF WRITING”. Well, what is that?
I will be conversing five elements of writing today.
1. Unity of Idea
Unity of ideas means following one main idea, the central theme of your paragraph.
An essay or a paragraph might contain a number of sub-ideas. However, the overall theme of the essay and the central idea of the paragraph would still be one.
This unity of ideas gives clarity to the paragraph. If more than one different ideas are jumbled up in one paragraph, it defeats the purpose of paragraph since it can only be about a single idea.
2. Order
Order means the natural logical sequence of the idea. For instance, introduction comes before the body which is followed by the conclusion in the end.
Similarly, a paragraph starts with the topic sentence on a particular point, which is followed by a few sentences of explanation, which is supplemented by the evidence afterwards.
In the same manner, it should be noted that the causes are discussed before the impacts, and solutions are discussed after the problems.
3. Coherence
I call it “the natural flow” between the sentences and paragraphs.
In very simple terms, coherence means that one sentence should generate the other. In other words, it should transition into another sentence without breaking the order or the idea.
Let’s look at the following example:
a. He was a reckless driver. He always got in trouble. He injured three pedestrians last summer.
b. Being a reckless driver, he always got in trouble. Moreover, he injured three pedestrians last summer.
Now the second sentence seems to have more flow between the two ideas. Two techniques have been used here.
One is joining the two sentences by making the first sentence a sub-clause, and secondly by using the linking word ‘moreover’ in the second sentence. Such words make transitioning easy and effective. You can google about more linking words later on.
Other techniques include parallelism, use of loose and periodic sentences, balanced use of active voice and passive voice, avoiding use of ‘not’ and using simple definite tenses.
4. Conciseness
People often think conciseness means making something short or brief. No, that is not conciseness.
Conciseness means saying something by using few words.
Do you know any friend of yours who is in the obnoxious habit of putting up a proposition and thereby transmitting the scheme by resorting to the flummoxing usage of ornate and embellished lexicon? He/She is verbose. Conciseness is its opposite.
Means putting up a few words to convey the idea.
Now, many writers use very difficult vocabulary just to sound excellent. But in my opinion, that approach is counterproductive.
5. Completeness
In order to make your paragraph complete, you need to fully develop your idea by providing enough information to support your take.
The topic sentence should be supported by two to three explanatory sentences and evidence. The paragraph may be closed at the fifth or sixth sentence which should summarise the paragraph with definite position on the main idea as well as the topic sentence of the paragraph.
Although there is no limit to the number of sentences, but roughly 6 to 7 sentences are enough for a balanced paragraph.
BOTTOMLINE: Keep these five things in mind while writing, and your paragraphs and essays will be fine.
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| FIVE ELEMENTS OF PARAGRAPH WRITING |