Structuring paragraphs

Readers expect writing to appear in paragraphs. Writers should match one main idea to one paragraph. The order of and connections between sentences within a paragraph set the logic of your persuasive writing.

What you learned in school – that each paragraph should contain a topic sentence – still holds. But you are free to place the main sentence anywhere in the paragraph, depending on what you want to emphasize. And just like in the Pyramid Principle, the other sentences in a paragraph should support the main idea.

When writing more than one paragraph, pay attention to the connection between the last sentence of one paragraph and the first sentence of the subsequent paragraph. Those connections are crucial to establishing flow through a document or email.