Writers on the Web should not use overly long paragraphs.

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   Don Bobbittposted 9 years ago

   
   I just finished reading a great Hub. But, it was around 1500 words and several paragraphs were 300-400 words long.
   Gone are the days of saving typewriter paper. Open your articles up with plenty of "White Space". White Space is FREE! Writers need to make their articles easily readable.
   DON

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      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I agree on using space to delineate the object. Hubs are more appeasing to the eye offering a good flow for reading comfort with shorter than longer paragraphs. Especially if one is reading for information. What do you recommend for count of sentences for a paragraph? I have heard between 3 - 5 is enough.

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      1. 76

         Don Bobbittposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         tsmog- I tent to go with three to five sentences to make a minor point, but at times I will make a paragraph break after only one or two long sentences.
         Again, its just white space now, and why not give the reader a "good" place to pause or stop rather than forcing them through more text than they want to read at that moment?
         DON

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      Shinkickerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely good advice. Long paragraphs are not good on the Net, they work on paper but short paragraphs are more digestible online. I'm constantly going back to edit very old Hubs and can't believe how big some of my paragraphs were,

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   mactaversposted 9 years ago

   I find that more and more Hubs are too short rather than too long.

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      Don Bobbittposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      mactavers- I wasn't talking about long versus short Hubs, rather I was talking about long paragraphs that go on and on without a break.
      This was a way of writing long ago, but with today's word processors, you can break a long paragraph into several shorter ones.
      As one professor told me long ago; "When you read a document out loud you need to stop and Breath occasionally. That should also apply to your eyes. They also need to stop and "Breath, occasionally."

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   Sunshyne1975posted 9 years ago

   I'm probably guilty of this, I need to go over my past hubs and see. Some hubs I read are very short, however, some are so long and not stimulating enough to keep my attention.
        There are so many great writers on here with such great writing ability and wit. I have so many hub ideas, and so much to write about, I think I will take a writing class to improve my skills. Thank you for this forum topic, I'm going to go over my hubs now and see if I can make some more improvements.

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   dianetrotterposted 9 years ago

   Shorter paragraphs are definitely more interesting to me.  I multitask and hate finding my place in the middle of a paragraph.

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   Ghaelachposted 9 years ago

   Thanks Don for this valuable info. I'm probably one of the guilty ones that rambles on and on. Your thoughts on how long a paragraph should be will stick in my mind. When I think how long a paragraph was in my early hubs. I'm sure I would right a whole page without taking a break.
   These days I'm not so bad. I've listened and read what my fellow hubbers as yourself have to say, and try to put it into practice.
   I was a handworker in my working life. That means I didn't have the skills of an office person. I didn' need to write a essay about beating hell out of a piece of metal. So every hub is a new writing experience and a further lesson on writing correctly.

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      Don Bobbittposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Keep on Writing, Brother! Keep on Writing!
      
      DON

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   Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years ago

   OMG!  Thank you.  Just looking at a hub with no paragraph breaks makes me want to pass on it without reading.  I know I'm missing out on some great writing, but layout is important too.

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7. 76

   Don Bobbittposted 9 years ago

   Shinkicker- I wrote a lot of technical papers during my career as an Engineer, and this was the first thing I had to work on with my creative writing.
   Then I finally realized that all of that white space was not costing me anything and it actually make my writings more readable.
   DON

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   sandeep15rposted 9 years ago

   Yes, absolutely agree, White space is a must in web writing. It not only provides an aesthetic value to your writing but also makes your writing reader-friendly. Ideal is if your sentences have 10-15 words and paragraphs have 6-7 sentences.

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   thirdmilleniumposted 9 years ago

   It mostly depends upon how you write. Mark Twain pointedly wrote small sentences it was beautiful writing. O Henry wrote convoluted sentences but his writing too was eminently readable.

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