Like all online writing, paragraphs should be concise and easy to scan.

People often have to make adjustments when it comes to paragraphs with online writing.

Back in the days of English terms papers, you wrote long paragraphs, probably trying to get to the required word count.  Ideas would ramble on in long blocks of unbroken text.  Somehow, it looked more complete.

With reading on digital mediums, long blocks of text overwhelm eyes.  The length is daunting, and it’s very difficult to scan read – which people like to do online.

So forget your high school English lessons.  When writing for online consumption, keep paragraphs very short.  2-3 sentence is usually enough.

A Change In Writing Style

Shortening paragraphs will have an effect on your writing style.  Luckily, for most people it’s an improvement.

Short paragraphs forces you to break your writing up into a series of tight topics.  A 2-3 sentence paragraph can only really be about one idea.

Writing this way will help you cut out deadwood and prevent rambling.  You’re writing will take on a crisp, easy to read flow. You’ll get to the point faster and make it clearer.

You may have some trouble breaking away from longer paragraphs at first.  Just remember that every time you start on anything that is even a slight idea variation, you should start a new paragraph.

Here are some guidelines to remember:

• Build each paragraph on one, crisp topic.
• Front -load the main point.  What ever the essential idea is – even if it’s a conclusion – put it first.  You have to hook scan readers at the beginning or they won’t read further.
• Err on the side of making paragraphs too short rather than too long.

If you think back, you might recall that writing those long, structured paragraphs in high school was a real bore.

Shorten up paragraphs and inject some energy into your idea development.  Online readers will get more out of your writing and you’ll probably discover you like writing this way better!