Helpful Hints for Technical Writing

Writing Effective Paragraphs

Paragraphs
arethe buildingblocksfromwhicha technicalreportis made.Authors
mustbe able to constructeffectiveparagraphs
in orderto writeeffectivereports.By
definition,a paragraphis a subdivisionof a writtencompositionthat developsa
, //
single idea. Each paragraphcontainsone or more sentences.Sentencesare well
definedandhavea definitestructure.
Paragraphs
areless well defined.Theirstructure
is flexible,and authorsmustlearnhow to put sentencestogetherto formeffective
paragraphs.
Paragraphs
serve threefunctions.1) They providelogical breaksin subjectmatter.2) They aid readingby
physicallybreakinga compositioninto observableunits. 3) They logically develop and completethe thought
expressedin the topic sentence.
Paragraphlength can vary considerably.Paragraphs
should neitherbe too long nor too short.Many short
paragraphs
makea compositionchoppy.Paragraphs
thataretoo long arehardto read.A good paragraph
develops
one ideawithina lengththatis comfortable
for thereader.By reorganizing
andrestructuring,
paragraphs
thataretoo
shortcan be combinedand long paragraphs
can be divided.
The most importantpartof a paragraph
is the TOPICSENTENCE.The topic sentenceusuallycorresponds
to
startswitha good
majorsubdivisionsof the outlineandstatesthe subjecttheparagraph
will cover.If eachparagraph
topicsentence,a readercan veryrapidlyget the gist of a paperby readingonly the firstline of eachparagraph.
An
effectiveway to beginwritinga technicalreportis to developa seriesof topicsentencesfromthe outline.Laterthe
idea of each topic sentencecan be developedinto a paragraph,
and the first draftof the paperis done.
Althougheachparagraph
presentsa completeidea,andcanthereforehavemeaningwhenreadalone,it mustalso
to the nextis assuredby starting
fit logicallywithits neighbors.A logicalsequenceof thoughtsfromone paragraph
to the
with a well-organizedoutline.ThenTRANSITION
WORDShelp bridgethe thoughtsfromone paragraph
next.Suchwordsareespeciallyhelpfulwhenseparateparagraphs
developrelatedaspectsof the sameidea.Words
like although,nevertheless,besides, etc. lead the readerlogically from one paragraphto the next, and tie the
thoughtstogether.
Remember:
In writinga good paragraph,
Two things will help a lot;
An effective topic sentence,
And just one subjectthought.
J. H. Dawson,Weed Scientist,Prosser,WA 99350

536

Weed Technology.1993. Volume7:536