Improve Your Readers’ Experience with Effective Paragraphing

Lots of white space makes for a smoother read.

Have you ever come across a block of text that hasn’t been broken down into paragraphs? It’s awful, isn’t it? A wall of words can be off-putting to the reader as, aside from being visually daunting, there is nothing to indicate when to pause, and the reader goes at the text in the manner of the bus in the film Speed.

Effective paragraphing is an essential part of writing. Breaking down your text into bite-sized chunks allows the reader to pause and take in what he or she has just read, before moving on to the next piece. A solid block of type without any breaks presents a formidable task to the reader, and such text is the visual equivalent of listening to a non-pausing speaker who barely stops for breath.

What is a Paragraph?

A paragraph is a sentence, or group of sentences that relate to a particular point. Paragraphs are important because, whether in a story, an article, or product information on the back of a soap powder box, the reader likes to see breaks in the text.

Here on Medium, readers (and publications) like to see lots of white space on a post. I’ve been told that one of the reasons for this is that many people read Medium stories on their phones, in which case, short…