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Article Writing: Paragraphs
faradina
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01 Dec 10 2:42 am

Article Writing: Paragraphs

This is again for newbie article writers :)

To have effective articles, we must have effective paragraphs. I have seen more than just a few really bad paragraphs all over the internet, as well as articles which had no paragraphs, or rather had just one paragraph with everything running together. So I thought I'd post something about constructing effective paragraphs. Nothing high-level as I am not really a composition professor or anything like that :)

A paragraph should be composed of sentences that develop one main idea. It must have a topic sentence that states the main idea and supporting sentences which explain, prove, illustrate, or add details to the main idea. Any sentence that does not develop the main idea should be taken out, to give your paragraph strength and purpose.

There are paragraphs which have only 1 to 4 sentences and there are those which can have up to 15 sentences. In writing web content, it is well to remember that shorter paragraphs are best, and this is because having a solid great wall of unbroken text on your web page could potentially cause a site visitor to click away from it. Long paragraphs, after all, are not very easy to read.

To avoid having paragraphs that are too long, break down your ideas into subtopics, or even sub-subtopics. That way, you need only a few sentences to express them fully. This also makes the paragraph easier to read and understand, which in turn makes your whole article easier to read and understand.
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michellerana
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02 Dec 10 9:40 pm

 I agree with what you said about breaking down your ideas into subtopics. Short paragraphs are easier to digest. Your visitors will tend to stick around and keep reading when it’s not such an effort for them to do so. We recommend lines that are about 60 characters wide (10 to 15 words per line).
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billj
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02 Mar 11 11:41 am

 I should add that with web content you should put the most interesting stuff on the very top which helps create interest and urges them to read through your whole page.
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faradina
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03 Mar 11 6:51 am

 I fully agree with BillJ. Your article should capture your audience's interest from the very start and retain it through to the end.
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kdruhl
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03 Mar 11 2:09 pm

 For article marketing, I usually write 2 to 3 sentence paragraphs. The first words of the first sentence should grab attention, and convey the main content. Readers will mostly skim the article, and these are words they will pick up. Again, for articled marketing, the resource box should just read like the last paragraph in the article.
Thanks, Faradina, for bringing up this topic.
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sam2
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27 Oct 11 7:33 am
BillJ wrote:I should add that with web content you should put the most interesting stuff on the very top which helps create interest and urges them to read through your whole page.

In fact, the value of a article really lies on the content and rendering methods adopted to potraits the topics. Here it's a question of how much you set focus on building right paragraph with the content.Thanks
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cecille.l
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15 Nov 11 10:02 am

 One of our members, James Pruitt, wrote a YO blog post on how to write articles without wearing your fingers. It gives some good tips on how you can write articles for your site without the frustration.

Hope that helps. Have a good day!
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louie.sioco
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28 Nov 11 4:03 pm

 In addition, sometimes paragraphs don't have to be formal. It bores readers if corporate language is used.
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cecille.l
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02 Dec 11 8:47 am

 I agree. A well-written article is an article that is both easy to read and easy to understand. The tone and vocabulary need not be formal, unless you are trying to come across as a professor or other. This article is a dated and really refer to sales copies, but some of the tips can be applied to article writing:
Why it's bad to assume your visitors are smart
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Cecille

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annabellefrost07
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16 Dec 11 8:56 am

 While I agree with the concept of short paragraphs being visually easier and more pleasing, I've always had trouble breaking up what I have to write into paras of just the right size. i guess it's just something that you have to keep working on. Theoretically I know how I should go about it - but it's not easy.
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artisttpss
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16 Jan 12 5:33 am

 No doubt article content is the back bone of article submission. It should be unique and easy to read.

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marcobrandon762
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14 Jun 12 4:01 am

 I have to agree. It seems to have been a common problem now with the written articles getting worse as they grow by the number. And though the thing would probably lean toward how people are going to learn how they are going to write, there are a number of things that you should likely consider before diving into such a feat. And in any case, you just have to be more familiar with it as you progress along.
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anil
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20 Jun 12 12:37 pm

 I would add to this, that as well as having manageable paragraphs to have sub titles so readers can scan then read, rather than not find what they want and bounce.
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