ClearTips: Powerful paragraphs

An Approach to Paragraphs
Building paragraphs from a plan
Getting off to a good start
       Put your main message up front
       Start with a gripping fact
       Ask questions
       Set the scene
       Surprise your readers
       Present a brief history
       Address your readers
       Open with a quotation
Summing up
       Restate the essence of your main message
       Use a closing quotation
       Pose a question
       Propose a challenge or future direction

1. Unify Your Paragraphs Around Strong Points
Be clear about your subject
Make a strong point
Be sure every sentence bears on the point
Repeat a key term
Repeat a sentence structure—for sentences doing the same work
Count the elements
Signal what's to come
Stick to one subject
Stick to one verb form
Fold two sentences into one

2. Make Your Points in Compelling Ways
Lead with the point and support it
Lead with the point and conclude with a comment
Lead with the point and, using conjunctions, join details
Lead with the point and list disparate details
Lead with the point and follow it with a bulleted list
Conclude with the point after introducing the subject
Conclude with the point after listing disparate details
Make the point in the middle
Undermine a premise at the end of a paragraph
Undermine a premise immediately
Undermine a premise in the middle of the paragraph
Start with a question and answer it immediately
Start with a question and answer it in succeeding sentences
Start with a question and answer it at the end
Ask several questions and answer each immediately
Imply the point in a series of details or examples
Imply the point in a series of questions
Imply the point by presenting two sides
Imply the point in an analogy or syllogism

3. Link Your Paragraphs
Repeat a word or phrase from the end of the preceding paragraph
Turn the repeated word into a question
Repeat an opening word or phrase
Signal what's to come
Establish pairs across paragraphs
Ask a question at the end of one paragraph and answer it at the beginning of the next
Ask a question at the beginning of the second paragraph
Make a comment
Count
Place paragraphs in time
Announce an example
String examples together
Undermine

The sources for Powerful paragraphs are available in PDF.

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