Getting your idea across to Your Reader is an art form!

Some days it can seem like just one paragraph is a mammoth effort… and that Your Reader is a million miles away!

The trick is to carefully determine who your audience is… and be mindful of preparing your writing specifically for them. Get to know Your Reader!

Ask yourself:

• What are the characteristics of Your Reader. Can you profile Your Reader? You will want to know exactly where your target lies and how to capture their literary attentions.
• Why would Your Reader be bothered to read your text? Communicating clearly and engagingly with Your Reader is your primary focus.

Short gripping and rich grabs are important handles for Your Reader

Your Reader probably reads in short grabs… most use the punctuation to guide them… but generally it is a grab of 5-10 words at a time…Then, Your Reader pauses to comprehend… and then they go on… and read a bit more… to the next few words… so every few words needs to be rich and meaningful.

Experiment: Pause for a moment now… reflect on how you read new text…? Will Your Reader have a reading pattern like you do… if so, write like you read! If not, adapt to match your writing style to suit Your Reader.

Aim for sentences with about 7 words or less! That way, Your Reader stays engaged, enthralled and most of all – awake!

• Use punctuation to guide Your Reader through the narrative pathway you have carefully designed.
• Make sure that your sentence construction is complete, and that you don’t leave the story line hanging… with an unfinished idea.
• Make sure that what you have written will convey the message you want it to convey, and that it is not possible to misconstrue the content.
• Don’t use sarcasm or double meanings in text… unless you are an expert story teller (most of us are not).
• Ideally a paragraph will be about 200- 300 words long, depending on Your Reader, and the complexity of the ideas, or depth of discussion in your paragraph. (Don’t worry – references are not included in the word count)!
• Use a referencing style that is acceptable to Your Reader. For example, a numbered referencing system might help to keep the text more readable for some audiences, while other readers want to see names and dates of references in text. Use some referencing software such as Endnote, so that your referencing is consistent throughout.
• Each paragraph needs to tell a concise and discreet part of the larger story that you are telling to Your Reader. Make sure your join the dots!
• Remember: The first sentence sets the scene for the paragraph. It indicates the big idea you are dealing with, and it outlines the topic or main theme for the discussion you are about to outline.
• Then, add one, two, three… (or reluctantly/ cautiously …maybe four) supporting sentences. Include evidence to back up your main topic/ main idea or main theme.
• The final sentence should conclude the paragraph. Summing-up the idea in a convincing crescendo. So Your Reader  will have a ‘Arhhh’ moment, capturing the essence of message. Your Reader will want to feel as though they understand your idea. If Your Reader completes reading the text of your paragraph and then feels ‘dumb’, doesn’t get the gist of your idea… or is bored by it; then your haven’t conveyed a convincing message yet. Re draft, and try again!
• Each paragraph in the body of a piece of writing needs to contain three distinct elements: an idea, enough convincing evidence and a summary.
• And remember Your Reader is probably reading on an electronic device – computer, iPad, smartphone… so, write for the screen not the page!

Here are some two resources to help you structure a paragraph for your #300words this week!

1. Paragraph-writing fact sheets for academic writing. Getting back to the basics.
2. Writing a thesis – a great writing guide here: http://betterthesis.dk

Happy writing!

Acknowledgement – The Burger Image for this blog is from the following writing resources team…. check it out – handy tips! http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paragraph_hamburger