Writing Skills

Paragraphs control the design and structure of the written composition. Paragraphs in the middle of your composition develop the thesis statement and provide transition ideas between supporting details.

Paragraphs should have a single sentence that captures the main idea of the paragraph.  This is called a topic sentence.  The others sentences, called supporting sentences or the body of the paragraph, are used to support, explain, illustrate, or provide evidence for the idea expressed in the topic sentence.

"A topic sentence should, if possible, do four things: (1) provide a transition from a the preceding paragraph, (2) introduce the topic of the paragraph, (3) make a main point about this topic, and (4) suggest how the rest of the paragraph will develop this point" (Hult and Huckin, The New Century Handbook, 104).

A paragraph should not introduce any other evidence or provide information that does not support the main idea. 

Find logical subdivisions in your argument and organize them into unified paragraphs.

It is common to start a paragraph with a topic sentence and then let the rest of the sentences build details to support it. However, this is not by any means the only or the best pattern. The topic sentence can appear in any part of the paragraph or sometimes it can be implied.

• Keep details in the paragraph focused around the central idea
• Avoid paragraphs that are either too long or too short
• Individual sentences within the paragraph should be written logically
• The paragraph should be connected with the rest of the paper by following the natural progression of thought
• Use different patterns of paragraph development (narration, description, definition, example, comparison and contrast, analogy, cause and effect, or process)
• Provide transitions between paragraphs to make your writing flow smoothly (refer to the section on Transitions)

• Introduce a new idea
• Emphasize an idea
• Introduce a logical pause
• Introduce a subtopic
• Conclude the composition