Physical presentation

Given our recommendation that the introduction and conclusion should each take up approximately one-eighth of the entire text, it follows that the body will amount to about three-quarters of the whole. In a 1,000-word text, it is unnecessary, and indeed inappropriate, to separate the body physically from the introduction that precedes it and the conclusion that follows it, for example by a blank line. Such a text is short enough to be easily surveyed by the reader. With much longer texts, it may well be desirable to make a clear physical separation between introduction and body, particularly if the body itself is divided into extensive subsections.

In a brief text, the first paragraph of the body will be recognizable as the first indented paragraph. All further paragraphs in the body will also be immediately recognizable by their indentation. No other physical techniques will be needed. Even where the body is clearly divided in its content into two sections, the end of the first section will not be physically separated from the beginning of the second by anything other than the indentation of the first paragraph of the second section.

From what has been said we can conclude that the body of a 1,000-word text simply consists of a series of paragraphs, each indented, with no other physical divisions of information. The paragraph breaks will of course generally correspond, in ways that will be discussed elsewhere, with the introduction of a topic sentence, i.e. the beginning of a new major point in the argument. At the same time, it is important to stress that the paragraph is not only a 'logical' device, but also has a function in increasing the eye-appeal of your text. Seen from this angle, paragraph divisions serve to break up the text into pleasing chunks. Very lengthy paragraphs, with over 200 words, may well from time to time be justified by the logic of your argument, but your reader will almost certainly find such a paragraph tiring and difficult to survey as a whole. A very brief paragraph, with no more than two sentences, may be higly effective at some point, a succession of such paragraphs will, however, tend to come over as hectic and/or superficial.

A point to consider, especially in the editing phase, is whether the paragraph divisions that have arisen from the logical structuring of your argument should be altered with a view to increasing the attractiveness of the body. This may well involve breaking up excessively lengthy paragraphs into two or more shorter ones. Each of the resultant paragraphs should, however, have its own internal unity: you need to think carefully where you want to place the eye-appeal break. If it is a matter of joining together a series of short paragraphs into one or more larger ones, you similarly must consider whether the larger ones will need to be adapted in some way to increase their unity as paragraphs. The outcome of this reconsideration should be a succession of paragraphs that are well-balanced in length. Our recommendation for a 1,000-word text is a succession of 4 to 8 paragraphs ranging in length from 100 to 200 words each.

A final matter in this section concerns the briefest of all possible paragraphs, the *one-sentence paragraph. Although this form is found in the popular press, where it has the effect of increasing the accessibility of information for readers unaccustomed to reading sustained arguments, it is quite inappropriate in writing of the kind discussed on this site. A one-sentence paragraph lacks by definition any internal structure and should always be incorporated into an adjoining paragraph or simply edited out.