One Paragraph…One Idea

Monorail catWhen you write, it will be in paragraphs.

Unfortunately, 99% of people suck at writing paragraphs. This results in emails, marketing pieces, and proposals that are difficult to read.

Luckily, there is one simple rule that you can follow to use paragraphs correctly and drastically improve your writing.

One Paragraph One Idea

Here is the simple rule. Think of paragraphs as simple ideas. Each paragraph is going to start with one simple idea.

I love cats.

In order for the next sentence to fit in this paragraph, it needs to further describe or support this simple idea.

I love cats. When they sit on my lap and purr, it makes my heart melt.

Rinse and repeat.

I love cats. When they sit on my lap and purr, it makes my heart melt. Just seeing one excites me.

If the sentence does not further describe or support this simple idea identified in the first (and only the first) sentence, it starts a new paragraph.

I love cats. When they sit on my lap and purr, it makes my heart melt. Just seeing one excites me.
When I’m excited, I smile.

Even though I talked about being excited, the simple idea is about loving cats. It is not about being excited.

The Paragraph Needs More Than One Sentence Nonsense

Somewhere along the line, many of us learned that you need more than one sentence in a paragraph.

That is total bullsh*t. It is wrong and it is a mentality you have to break out of.

Each paragraph must only contain one simple idea. Therefore, it is perfectly fine if the paragraph only has one sentence.

Speak Your Mind

*