Writing a Paragraph

If you're reading this posting, it must mean that you're ready to expand on your writing.

As review, a simple sentence in English has at least a subject and verb. An object is not always needed, but is usually present (please review the posting regarding 'Introduction to Writing').

A simple paragraph usually has 5-7 sentences. This is an understood general rule, but the rule is not the type found in a book, or agreed upon by people. When writing a paragraph, understand that there is a topic sentence (main idea), supporting sentences (Sentences supporting the main idea), and a conclusion sentence (A sentence that usually shows how a problem is fixed or what was learned).

To write a paragraph, you need to realize what it is that you're going to write about.

• Are you going to write about yourself? 
• Are you going to write your favorite sport?
• Are you going to write about your favorite movie?
• Are you going to write about different restaurants.

There are many possibilities.

IDEAS

Once you figure out what it is you're going to write about, begin writing ideas associated with the topic.

Lets's take the idea of writing about yourself [Let's assume you, the reader, is a university student].

You begin writing ideas connected with being a university student:

• Taking classes from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• Exercise for 1-2 hours (depending on the schedule)
• Drive to and from school
• Study and perform labs for classes

TOPIC SENTENCE [The main idea]

After coming up with a few ideas, it is time to come up with a a main idea. This main idea will be used as the basis of your topic sentence. In this case, look at all the activities this university student does. The main idea that one could come up is that the student is busy. Here are a couple of examples of a topic sentence:

• "Ever since I started university, I haven't had time to myself."
•  "I had no idea that attending university would mean sacrificing time."
• "Since I started university last month, I haven't spent time with family or friends."

Feel free to create your own topic sentences.

SUPPORTING SENTENCES

Supporting sentences support the main idea. We've previously written a few ideas [Highlighted in green], and now can use them as the basis of supporting sentences. Here are some examples:

• "I start classes at 9 a.m. and I finish at three in the afternoon."
• "My first class begins at nine in the morning, and my last class finishes at 3 p.m."
• "I go to the gym to exercises for 1-2 hours every morning."
• "I have to drive 45 minutes to school and another 45 minutes when I drive home."
• "After class is finished, I take a little snack break and head to the library to study."
• "For my science class, I have to do labs two times a week starting right after my last class."

You can see the expansion of ideas posted.

CONCLUSION SENTENCE

A conclusion sentence is a sentence that explains the result of the actions, and how it is fixed; or it can be used to express what was learned. In this case, what should a university student learn when he/she has all these time demands? A good answer would be learning to manage time. For example:

• "As a result of all these time demands, I have learned to manage my time."
• Since I've been busy, I've learned that keeping track and managing time is my most important tool."

FULL PARAGRAPH

Here's an example of a complete paragraph:

• "Since I started university last month, I haven't spent time with family or friends. I start my day at 6:15 a.m..  I drive 45 minutes to school. I usually go to the gym to exercise for an hour every morning. My first class begins at nine in the morning, and my last class finishes at 3 p.m.. After class is finished, I take a little snack break and head to the library to study. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do science labs starting right after my last class. After studying is finished and labs are finished, I have to drive another 45 minutes back home. I usually get home by 8:30 p.m.. Because my schedule is demanding, I learned to manage my time."

This paragraph has ten (10) sentences.

When writing a paragraph, make sure that it has a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a conclusion sentence. Make sure that when writing details of a supporting sentence, the details make logical sense and/or they make chronological sense (The time makes sense).