Par-a-graphs!!!!

[Will & Eve]

New writers - it cannot be said often enough or loud enough: the #1 reason why your story doesn't get read and you don't get the feedback you seek:

YOU DIDN'T USE PARAGRAPHS!

Reading on-line is more difficult than print under the best of conditions - reading something that is one massive unbroken block of text is, for most people, simply NOT worth the effort. You may write better than anyone here, but if you don't break up your text into readable chunks I and most others will never know because we will simply pass.

Word to the wise - paragraphs are not only your friends, they are indispensable to good writing.

[MsGary]

Kool!

Good tip.

Thanks,
Luv, MsGary

[Bill37BlackMale]

Originally Posted by Will & Eve

New writers - it cannot be said often enough or loud enough: the #1 reason why your story doesn't get read and you don't get the feedback you seek:

YOU DIDN'T USE PARAGRAPHS!

Reading on-line is more difficult than print under the best of conditions - reading something that is one massive unbroken block of text is, for most people, simply NOT worth the effort. You may write better than anyone here, but if you don't break up your text into readable chunks I and most others will never know because we will simply pass.

Word to the wise - paragraphs are not only your friends, they are indispensable to good writing.

RIGHT ON!!! An Jes a Lil bit O Grammar Can't hurt! LOSE the Ebonics...Get a dictionary and TRY to complete BOTH the THOUGHT and the Sentence!!! TRY to sound like the BRAIN is at LEAST as big as the BALLS!!!

Ohhh and the SLIGHTEST bit of CREDIBILITY and REALITY would help LOADS!

[Throne]

Excellent advice. Writers can check almost any published fiction to see how to present dialogue and get an idea of how long paragraphs should be (hint -- shorter is better). It really detracts from a story to have it not broken up correctly.

[bridelover]

The fault isn't entirely the author's. After cutting, copying and pasting my (long) stories to fit your 1000 word limit, I found that much of my formatting had been lost (I use Open Office in Linux). I just spent several minutes trying to indent the beginning of this message but nothing works. You might also remember the fact that some estimate the number of functionally illiterate to be almost 60% of the general population. They can read the name on a can of beans in the store but anything more advanced is out of the question. Reading (and following) any kind of story is beyond these people. Just look at the outrageous spelling mistakes and horrible grammar in this (and any other) forum.

[Will & Eve]

I'm not speaking here of formalized formatting. I'm just saying long blocks of unbroken text are extremely difficult to read.

i don't care if the English teacher would approve or not, just referring to readability.