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SciCom – The Importance of Paragraphs
Published 12 days ago • 2 min read
Paragraphing Effectively
Hi Reader, let’s avoid large blocks of text.
Whether you write a blog, LinkedIn posts, or an announcement, you should pay close attention to how long your blocks of text are.
Many underestimate the effect that large blocks of text have on readers.
Today, we discuss some aspects to consider when putting together your copy, and the one exception to the rule:
What Many Overlook
Your reader decides whether to engage based on how much cognitive effort they expect it to require.
I intentionally start with an example that has nothing to do with writing. Nowadays, people don’t need to engage with content that is difficult to digest. Often, we describe this as “cognitive ease.” But don’t think this is just about laziness, it’s just as much about efficiency. This is why YouTube videos are typically cut faster than Hollywood movies, and why shorter paragraphs are increasingly effective. The next good piece is just a click, a swipe, a look away.
This decision is made in less than a second.
Long blocks of text signal effort, suggesting a dense cluster of closely related information, and make it harder for the eye to find the next line.
Therefore, make it easier for your reader and press Enter more often. The shorter your paragraph, the better.
The Benefits of Clear Structure
Paragraphing is about providing your reader with a visual structure. Proper paragraphs allow your reader to:
Feel like they have the mental capacity to start reading your content
Clearly identify key ideas
Understand which ideas are related
Have a stronger sense of progression
Suppress the urge to skip ahead
Additionally, keeping paragraphs short pushes you to write “better” by being more concise and establishing a clearer hierarchy or structure of information.
How To Do It
I would go about it this way: each paragraph should convey one key idea.
In blogs or on social media, you can go so far as to say that paragraphing after each piece of information or emotion is appropriate.
Click to enlarge. There is a range of styles. You may want to distinguish between previews (the first few lines) and the body (when people click “more” or scroll down), as well as how much of your content is visible on the screen at once. There is no right or wrong, just note that the structures themselves convey a certain feeling.
That means a single sentence can be an entire paragraph. Especially for key insights, if you want to emphasize emotions or convey surprise this works well.
Although it varies with page width and font size, I personally try to stick to:
Blogs: 1–5 lines
Social media: Generally, 1–2 lines
Newsletters: Generally, 1–3 lines
P.S.: If you’re like me, think about paragraphing even on posters or flyers - blocks of text are not just intimidating; even if people read them, having to jump back and forth makes it harder.
Click to enlarge. I think posters are one of the best examples of how people try to cram text into a limited space, completely forgetting about readability. Also, if you see content like the one on the left, I would advise you to be cautious about copying that format - I think the success of the post has other reasons, although it also shows that many formats can work. The thing is that if your reader doesn’t think you’ll provide the information they’re looking for after reading the first few words, they may jump past the paragraph entirely. With smaller paragraphs, you make it easier for them to scan the text.
Of course, if you want to unpack a technically complex idea, longer paragraphs are fine.
Also, if your reader is already invested after reading half your text, you can go longer if necessary.
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