Disclaimer: this isn't intended as a flame. It is not directed at anyone
in particular. If you feel offended, press the delete key. Anyone who flames
me in response to this will be splashed with Jusenkyou water. repeatedly. by
the end of that, thou shalt turn into gelatinous goop when hit by cold
water.

  [WB] is my 'writer's block' tag. This topic seems to be getting quite a
mention these days, so I thought I might give it it's own tag. Now, on with
the show...

  Paragraphs.

  What makes a story readable? The most obvious answer is paragraphs. Bt
many people seem to forget this. Without paragraphs, it is very difficult to
read a story easily, as your eyes (ok, ok, my eyes) tend to skip lines if
you aren't careful, and squinnying at a monitor is not most peoples idea of
fun (not to mention bad for the old oculars).

  So what marks out a paragraph? There are two ways in which a paragraph can
be marked out (at least, in standard Br. useage). Leaving a blank line, and
identing the first line. My personal preference is to use both.

  Everyone (well, almost everyone) knows you should start a new paragraph
when someone says something. The paragraph doesn't have to start with teh
actual quote, but everything in that paragraph should be directly related to
what that person said. Especially, start a new paragraph when someone *else*
says something.

  What other reasons are there for starting a new paragraph? I can think of
two; a change of topic, when you want to redirect teh reader's attention or
describe a new scene, and simply to split up otherwise huge paragraphs. If
your paragraph is more than about 10-15 lines, you should seriously consider
splitting the paragraph (When I do this (rarely because I am not verbose), I
tend to indent only, not using a blank line.

  If a scene change is required, a new paragraph is definately required.
There are two common, and equally good, methods to do this. Either use some
kind of ascii art seperator, or have an extra paragraph to describe the
actual scene being changed.

                   *      *     *

  Sorry, I'm not giving any examples here... like I said, I have writer's
block. Whee, it feels good to get that little rant off my chest.

---
Rhialto
"i'll have a copy" means you got one or you want me to send it?
"I'll live" means you have a life or you want to live?