Is it just me?
Am I alone in this?
Am I the only one who knows how to use the return carriage? The “enter” key?
Paragraphs. I need paragraphs.
Reading a post, or a story, or anything at all where there is one long block of text makes e cray-cray.
Visually.
Conceptually.
Textually.
For those who don’t know what that means, here is the Miriam Webster definition:
Simple Definition of paragraph
-
: a part of a piece of writing that usually deals with one subject, that begins on a new line, and that is made up of one or more sentences
Perhaps it is my age. Or the fact that I write for a living. But every time I see a blog post that is one loooooooooooooooooooong paragraph, I look elsewhere for entertainment or enlightenment.
FiftyFourandAHalf 
Sp*somewhere. Sigh. If only I could spell lol
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I didn’t even notice!
Yesterday I sent an email to my staff on my phone. They spent two hours researching the wrong thing because spell check changed the wording and I didn’t notice!
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Oh that rotten auto-correct or spell check, both riddled with gremlins so relentless I had to disable them both lol
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Yes to the space or I leave as well, too much to wade through when I am trying to read so many blogs. I read somwhere that posts over 300 words tend not to be read as much as shorter posts. Poor “paragraphing” may be the reason why.
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I think for the longer ones, there needs to be a compelling story. And white space!
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Yes! 🙂
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I do love a good paragraph. It’s hard to put my finger on the exact appeal of a bit of white space, but my eyes are definitely drawn to those breaks as rest stops.
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It’s good to take a break from the author, now and then.
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As Strunk and White said, “Make the paragraph the unit of your writing.” It is a lesson more need to learn.
Charming post.
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Thanks. Ad thanks for the quote — perfect.
Lastly, welcome!
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Can I get an Amen?
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Sure. Amen. 😉
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For me, it depends. If I were reading a blog with one long paragraph, I might balk. Unless it happened to be really creative and interesting.
I think I’m more forgiving when it comes to reading books, fiction in particular. Jose Saramago doesn’t write books full of paragraphs, he writes 200-300 page long paragraphs, with an occasional line break. Cormac McCarthy writes paragraphs that go on for pages.
But, for the most part, I agree…
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For many years now I’ve been having a torrid love affair with the short, staccato paragraph.
Then again, I’ve been seeing run-on sentences on the side (hey, it was good enough for Faulkner) and it’s been getting pretty hot and breathless.
The point is to punctuate elegantly and add a new paragraph when you change action or want to interrupt the flow, which may be often or rarely… Me, I can’t keep a thought in my head for very long so my paragraphs run short, but some people can fill a page or more with just one thought.
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Thanks for your comment!
There are some folks who can have a long or pages-long paragraph and get away with it. But very few. Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of blog posts that are long solid blocks with justified margins. I grumbled about them, but then decided that I just have to stop reading them. It is just too difficult to wade through them for the nuggets of gold/wisdom/humor.
(I have a secret — I HATE Faulkner. But not because of the run-ons. It’s because I never have a clue what is happening in his stories. While I do like to dig for deeper meaning in a novel, I don’t think one should be left uncertain when the major character fills his pockets with rocks and walks into the Charles River! But I was …)
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I think I’m probably guilty of the other extreme: short sentences/paragraphs.
But it helps so much with timing!
Right?
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Large blocks of text bother me too, and I try to avoid them. It’s one reason I insert images. It forces me to break it up. I do need to work on being more succinct, in writing and in speech. I chatter too much. 🙂
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Me too!
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I hear you. Earlier this year one of my students handed up a page long paragraph. Let’s just say that words were said.
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You are soooooo right. White space particularly on a printed page seems to be disappearing, maybe because of publishing costs???
And what the heck is happening to quotation marks? It seems to be the new vogue to leave them out. Blah. I still love the Oxford comma.
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When I look back at my earliest posts I am astounded at the density of some of my paragraphs. I am still struggling to break them up more without losing the purpose and meaning. I admire Victo for her ability to get separate ideas to coalesce in that way.
A nice reminder to all bloggers, Elyse.
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Victo is amazing, isn’t she. A gift!
Probably the people who aren’t wondering if they do it, are the ones who do!
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Big blocks are overwhelming and give me headaches. I often wonder if folks who post like that do it on a cellphone. On my big desktop screen I can clearly see the white space. (or not)
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Yes the headaches!
A woman I took an online writing course with (and who suggested I blog with Word Press) wrote all in one paragraph. Stream of consciousness — she also didn’t edit her own work. She had a lot of good stories, and a lot of good ideas, word plays, etc. But I couldn’t get beyond the block. Because of headaches!
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I am surprised that no one called her on it. It’s one of the first things I learned when blogging. I found that I would often put aside “thick” or overly long posts to be read “later.” (and we all know what happens then) The other thing that gets me is unnecessary details that clutter.
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I mentioned it, as did our writing teacher. It was her style though and she liked it.
Details I don’t mind so much — I can skim!
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I think about this every time I write an exceedingly (and self-indulgently!) long post — how it’s the sort of piece I’d skip, if someone else wrote it.
Doesn’t stop me from writing them, but at least I feel a pang of guilt over it…right? And, to Elyse’s gripe, I DO make frequent hard returns!
Which also serve to make a long piece look even longer. *sigh*
‘S why I try to intersperse enough short-n-funny drive-by posts into the mix. My way of apologizing for the tome-length posts!
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Long is frequently good (don’t you hate it when a good story ends?). It’s more the style of putting it all into one big box and expecting the reader to sort through it!
You’re not one of the culprits though. 😊
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Glad to hear it! 🙂 I am big fan of organized boxing, *especially* on a long piece…
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I think the white space doesn’t make the post look longer but less intimidating to read.
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I don’t care what my words do… as long as I can use my ‘…’s’…
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Your pictures break up your posts nicely.
When you have long ones, you break them up.
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Am I breaking up with me?????
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Oy.
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vey
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It’s not just you. Great reminder to all of us that our eyes and brains need some calming, restful blank spaces to make the words even that much more special.
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Good. I hate to feel alone!
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Agreed about the paragraphs, Elyse. No use telling that to Herman Melville though, but then, he’s dead anyway.
Also, allow me to extol the lowly comma, which, if you will note, is employed usefully here and in the paragraph above. Commas are just as important for clarity, I submit. Using them justifies care, as I learned from Mary Norris.
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When I’m reading a book or magazine printed on paper, I don’t mind if authors are stingy with white space since that saves trees.
But, in cyber space, where there’s no reason to be so stingy, I want to see lots and lots of white space.
On a related note, I refuse to read blogs that print white/light letters on black/dark backgrounds. That’s back ass ward.
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It can be annoying if not done right. But I don’t know what right is, when it comes to style. I’ve never taken Strunk and White seriously. For me, if it’s entertaining, that’s all that matters. But how to define entertainment, I haven’t a clue.
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I always read blocks of texts like that in an angry tone, like the writer is on such a rampage nothing was going to stop the words from flowing, not even a line break!
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Yes !!!
And…thank you. ☺
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No, thank you 😉
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Sing it Sister! As a reviewer, if I open a book and see unbroken blocks of dense text, I close it again and cancel the review.
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A block post is bad, but a block book? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
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And yet I’ve gotten several. Plus entire manuscripts without punctuation. I think they consider themselves avant but I say upfront that I won’t review anything that hasn’t been professionally edited. And I doubt any professional editor would pass on those ee cummings wannabes.
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With you all the way on this one! As a reader I need air, in the form of white space, otherwise I get claustrophobic. And don’t get me stared on capital letters, those essential sign posts that show us the way around paragraphs.
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Claustrophobic is the perfect description.
I’ll let you take it from here on the fine art of capitalization!
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Excellent! Too many large blocks of type and long paragraphs, and I move on.
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Often I find that they are written by folks with something to say … but I guess I no longer have the energy to separate the wheat from the chaff — that’s the writer’s job!
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You
tell
’em
Elyse.
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Paul,
You
Crack
Me
Up!
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It isn’t just you. I remember when my 10th grade English teacher made us write a many word sentence with commas, semicolons and the like. Mine clocked in at 52 words, but I wondered what the point was.
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Obviously, a good lesson. You still remember it, and you never write long, long, long sentences!
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I usually like to leave a lot of room for dramatic effect (because my blog is supes serious, as you know!). Tonight I literally posted a pic with two-three sentences, and was actually appreciating that it would be so quick and easy to read compared to previous posts.
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Well, I don’t know why I hadn’t visited your blog before. But now I have. I learned many things about you.
Most relevant to this post is that you are aces in the paragraphing department.
So I followed you. Possibly three times because I haven’t had my coffee yet.
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Thank you! I try to keep up with others’ blogs, but I’m limiting myself to reading like 2-3 times a week!
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You’re smarter than I am. But I haven’t been writing much lately, and I hardly ever comment on blogs any more. So I’ve trimmed down!
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If only there were more hours in the day!
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Paragraphs help to organize thoughts…helps readers to understand better. Thanks for reminding us all. 🙂
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That is such a nice way to say “crankiness rules”!
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Amen!
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Amen.
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You’re definitely not alone. I like white space and short paragraphs too. One long block is too intimidating to get through.
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Paragraphs make things so much better organized — it’s easier to put things in the right order as a writer and as a reader you can hone in on the important stuff.
I think I’m going to just stop trying with the folks who don’t use paragraphs. I’ll follow others instead!
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Oh yes, I love writing long sentences! Sometimes they add up to long paragraphs. But I long ago learned about the dangers of the wall of text. I try hard not to impose the wall on my readers.
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I don’t think you do.
But sometimes a long paragraph is necessary and appropriate. One thought to a paragraph — if it’s a long or complex thought, well then, it’s a long and complex paragraph.
That is quite different from having a bunch of thoughts all jumbled together, in no particular order, leaving the reader to sort it out. Or, in my new way of blog reading, not sorting it out.
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Exactly. No, I don’t try to read those, either. Life it too short…
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It’s not just you. On the other hand, depending on the medium … paragraphs can be too short … as a sentence or two. … but (in my opinion) is only done for the eyes.
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I’m more guilty of the too many paragraphs. Perhaps that’s because my mind jumps around so much 😉
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I write like you do. Lots of space. Calming to read.
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I’m so glad it’s not just me!
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