Paragraphing when writing stories: A quick guide for young writers (and their teachers)

We often see the same questions crop up in our writing workshops, so our Director, writer and teacher Heather McQuillan, has put together a series of tips for young writers and their teachers.

Paragraphing when writing stories

Paragraphing happens in all writing. It is about grouping your ideas. In non-fiction, paragraphs focus on grouping main points. In poetry, we use stanzas to group ideas or images. When writing instructions, each new point is a paragraph. For storywriting, it can be a bit trickier as we balance action, description, dialogue and inner thoughts.

Knowing when and how to start a new paragraph can make a big difference in how well your stories flow and how easy they are to read.

What is paragraphing?

A paragraph is often defined as "a group of sentences that go together”. It’s a good starting point, but you’ll see it isn’t always a fast rule for a narrative.

In story writing, each paragraph focuses on one part of the story, like a new idea, action, or line of dialogue. The paragraph break comes when you want your reader to focus on something, or someone, new.

If you look at some of your favourite books, you will see that some paragraphs can be very short while others may fill a whole page. There are no rules about paragraph length, except maybe, if your paragraph has gone on too long, your reader might need a break!

If you think like the operator of a movie camera, someone who changes focus to move from one image to another — from wide pan to close up, between characters, or maybe to focus on a key object — then you are starting to get the idea of paragraphing for stories.

A paragraph break says to your reader: Look, here’s something new that I want you to notice!

Tips on when to start a new paragraph

New Time or Place. Start a new paragraph when the story moves to a different time or location.

New Character. Begin a new paragraph when a new character enters.

New Action. Start a new paragraph when the ongoing action is interrupted by something new. This can be tricky, so I recommend reading your work out loud. You want the main action to flow and not to chop and change. Use the paragraph break when you want to turn the reader’s attention.

Dialogue. Each time a different character speaks, start a new paragraph. This is still a paragraph even though it may only be one line, or even just one word! For your reader, this will be a bit like watching a tennis match as they switch focus from one side to the other. There’s a bit more I’ll go into another time about when to keep action and dialogue together.

Look for paragraphs in the books and stories you read.

Read them out loud and notice where and why paragraphs begin. Think about the deliberate choices the writers and their editor may have made.

Be an editor

Take a block of text and think about how you might break it up to help the reader. Your choices might be a bit different to the original- don’t worry- writers ( and their editors) make choices for reasons!

Here is a block of text from my book, Avis and the Promise of Dragons. This is a scene where a lot of new things happen so the focus shifts a few times! How might you organise it into paragraphs? Think about the changes between action and sensory details ( what she sees/ hears), about thoughts and dialogue.

The line of boys up ahead had stopped, losing formation as they reorganised themselves for the assault. Drake was first. He was cunning enough to know that first position was safest but he made out that he was being brave in taking the lead. He set off at a casual jog, his stick scraping along the corrugations on the fence with a rat-a-tat-a-tat. He stopped at the gate and spun around to grin at the next boy, Archie Young, then resumed his clattering, which Archie echoed. Rat-a-tat-a-tat. Rat-a-tat-a-tat. It was a pleasing percussive sound until it was joined by a high-pitched shriek, like a cat being scraped along the strings of a violin, and it was coming from behind the fence. The remaining two boys did not wait for their signal but dashed past, throwing their sticks on to the footpath. The chain rattled and the gate opened. Avis stood frozen to the spot with her stick held limply in her hand. The witch locked eyes with her. Cold, accusing eyes. Avis let the stick drop guiltily to the ground as the boys scarpered around the corner into Menagerie Street. The witch followed her gaze. ‘Were you next in line?’ the witch asked her, stepping out and blocking her path.

Paragraphing is a key part of organising your stories. When you focus on paragraphing, you are looking at improving clarity both for your reader and for yourself.

Good luck with paragraphing your stories!

Hint: After my editor had looked at the passage above, we ended up with 6 paragraphs.