Writing Craft
Basic Writing Craft: The Power of Mastering Paragraph Breaks
3 ways to affect reader emotions through the simplicity of intentional paragraphs.
Remember school days of essay writing, when your English teacher ingrained in you that each topic needs a new paragraph?
Ick. Me, too.
Your English teacher was right, but the paragraph break can do so, so much more in creative writing. How you lead the reader down the page determines how loyal your readers will be. Want readers to hang on your every word? Paragraphs play a larger role than you may realize.
Paragraph breaks are clues
Each new paragraph tells the reader we’re moving on to the next thought. Visually, what this does on a page is communicate the style and tone of the story without the audience needing to read a single word.
Short paragraphs racing down the page signal action and a quick pace.
Longer paragraphs tell the reader this is a more introspective piece, and that they should settle in for a slow and deep read. Paragraphs like this set reader expectations with a single glance. And while many contemporary readers like quick, fun reads, don’t discount the appeal to a reader to grab a cup of tea and settle in.
You, the author, get to decide the experience the reader will have, so make your paragraph breaks deliberate.
Here are three intentional ways to switch paragraphs for an emotional response in your reader.
1. Pacing
Not only do paragraph lengths signal at first glance what type of scene readers will likely experience, this technique can be used to change pacing wherever it’s needed.
If you received feedback that a part of your manuscript felt slow, maybe it dragged for the reader, then shorter paragraphs are what the story needs in that moment.
But why would you want to slow things down?
Take, for example, a fight scene. After pages, maybe chapters, of buildup, the actual confrontation comes, but it was done and over before the reader knew what was going on. What happened? Start with checking your paragraph lengths. You might need to add details to the moment to slow the action down so the reader can take it all in. (Remember, slowing action down for detail is like slow motion in a movie — focusing in on those details ramps up the anticipation by slowing the pace but not the actual action taking place.)
Writing a fast-paced thriller? For the most part your paragraphs will be short, sometimes even one line long, to keep the pace moving quickly. But even a lightning-fast pace needs to slow down in certain points. Those paragraphs should be longer, relative to the others.
2. Cueing the reader
Imagine you are in a group having a conversation. As each person talks, you look at the speaker, moving your attention from one speaker to the next.
Paragraphs are the reader’s attention. Paragraph breaks signal the change in attention.
A new paragraph cues the reader to move their attention to the next character. Therefore, if someone else starts speaking, they get a new paragraph. Always.
This is a common issue, but also one of the fastest ways to master dialogue and avoid confusing readers. Without that paragraph break, the cue to switch attention, the reader assumes the same person is talking. So when they discover a dialogue tag or an action beat belonging to someone other than the person they assumed was talking, they’re confused, and they drop out of the story. The fictional dream is lost.
So if there’s one thing to take away from the power of placing paragraph breaks, it’s this: Each time a character opens their mouth, they get their own paragraph — Each and every time.
Although this may sound fussy, it’s as basic as a period at the end of the sentence. Without that break, the reader loses track of where they are. So help them follow the conversation like the back-and-forth of a tennis match with paragraph breaks as cues.
This is what creates flow for the reader, allowing them to lose themselves in this fictional conversation and all the emotion therein.
3. Emphasis
This is where writers can get creative and really have fun manipulating the reader’s experience.
Sometimes we have a specific point we want to get across to the reader, and giving that one sentence — however short — its own line highlights the text for the reader. It’s effective, and readers like to have their attention guided in this way.
Contemporary fiction uses this technique, as it emulates natural speech. This style leads a more casual and natural voice, which suits certain genres. For example, contemporary romance and young adult genres tend to be deep point-of-view (POV) and therefore include thoughts as they come to the protagonist.
But beware of overuse.
Just as this technique can effectively draw a reader’s attention, it can annoy the reader if used to much. Rather than feel like the character is having natural thought, they’ll feel the author intrusion, which takes away from the immersive experience.
And when using this technique too often, patterns start to emerge, which makes the writing both annoying and predictable. It’s not our fault, all authors have their own speech patterns, favorite turns of phrase, and tics, but when those appear too often and form patterns, readers notice the words themselves instead of the story.
Give it a try
To understand how to effectively draw the reader down the page, try changing the pace of your manuscript by using different paragraphing:
- Pick a chapter and slow things down by adding details to make paragraphs longer, or pick up the pace by chopping things up.
- Review your manuscript line-by-line to make sure every time someone speaks the dialogue starts on a new line.
- Experiment with a shift in tone by taking a chapter heavy with character thoughts, pull out the most important lines for the reader and give them their own separate paragraph.
Not all of these may apply to your genre, but practicing effective paragraphing will lead to a greater emotional impact on your readers.
Happy writing!
Elizabeth Russo is a professional editor and author with a passion for helping new writers navigate their way through the process of taking a good story and turning it into a publishable manuscript. She’s a 2023 and 2019 Florida Writers Association Top Ten Short Story winner, a 2021 Royal Palm Literary Award Finalist, and a returning Royal Palm Literary Award judge. She’s an active member of the Florida Writers Association, the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, ACES: The Society for Editing, and the Editorial Freelancers Association. Have questions? Reach out!
