How does it help the reader? Let me count the ways…

An extract from my work-in-progress.

Let’s say there’s a paragraph.

It might end, it might begin. Some of the sentences might take longer than others, so the text goes conveniently over to the next line and gives me a convenient example to share with you.

Good, that worked. Now I have enough text to explain.

There is no maximum or minimum length to any paragraph. You take as long to say what you need to say as suits your meaning. Just don’t take longer than that.

Not for its own sake.

Why not?

Because the writer and the reader come to the page for the same reason: 

Meaning.

Help the meaning along all you can with your words. Avoid the opposite: leaving words in meaning’s way, for it to trip over.

Oh, by the way, have you noticed the gap between these lines? Aren’t they beautiful? Double-spacing is my favourite. It helps your reader almost as much as your words do. Sometimes submission guidelines give you other options but double-spacing never hurt anyone.

But this is Substack, and I am conforming to its submission guidelines. It knows the formatting that works best for it. This above all else: to submission guidelines be true.

But let’s say you’re writing a novel. Because, let’s face it, you probably are. Or actively not writing one. Which is the same thing in terms of what’s useful to you here. Where was I? Oh yes. Whether anyone is talking or not, paragraphs in double-spaced text work like this: indented on the left; continuing until there’s a reason to start a new one. Or until there’s nothing else to say.

Keep a layout document that follows these rules as an example. Or, better still, create your own. Don’t worry what goes in it. Remember the golden rule of unblocking yourself as a writer: Think On the Page. Because no matter how good your formatting is – or how good a writer you are – you cannot edit what you haven’t written.

Thank you for supporting this newsletter. I do hope you enjoy this preview of my non-fiction work-in-progress, The Creative Writer.

If there’s a particular aspect of writing you’d like me to address here, let me know!

Remember, too, as a paid subscriber you receive 30% off Writers’ Gym events. Email thewritersgym@rachelknightley.com to receive your discount code.