Wednesday, April 21, 2010

by Al Portner

Journalists are taught that their mission is to get to the point with their sentences and paragraphs. Often in an attempt to get to the point, sentence clarity is obscured by a covey of qualifiers.

In journalism, this may be necessary because of a need to be sure that people are identified in specific and that verbs are structured as to not force a conclusion when result is still in doubt. These constructs are not always necessary in most commercial and business situations.

If you find yourself consistently writing paragraphs of ten typed lines or more, pare back your glowing prose. Readers tend to skim over the top of dense blocks of type. Shoot for paragraphs of five lines or less. The literary quality of your prose is wasted if your reader develops narcolepsy in mid-paragraph.

Make yourself a rule. A paragraph should express only one main idea. If the idea becomes too involved, break it into two or more ideas. Your readers will thank you when they awaken from their gray text induced stupor.


Al Portner's "The Assignment Desk" (TAD) provides
creatives staffing for all your company's special projects.
TAD offers an extensive stable of writers, photographers,
and graphic designers. Visit the TAD website at:
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See Al's columns on Public Policy at:

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