After looking at my own blog after writing about Lauren’s I noticed that I frequently don’t write more than one paragraph. I may have enough text for multiple paragraphs, but I rarely partition my writing into sections. My blogs essentially read like streams of consciousness, which, while easy to write, are not exactly easy reading. Analyzing Lauren’s blog has caused me to realize the importance of paragraphs for ease of reading. Long paragraphs, at least for me, tend to be a bit overwhelming when I first look over a blog when deciding whether or not to read it. More often than not, I read those blogs with a greater number of shorter paragraphs because it simply appears more palatable.
BOOMànew paragraph! In addition to the advantages of a cleaner, more segmented layout, Lauren’s blog has demonstrated the power of paragraphs in terms of organization of an argument. I feel that if I took the same arguments from my blogs and divided them into paragraphs, they would be infinitely more effective. Even though I feel like my blogs have good flow as is, paragraph divisions would help the reader navigate my arguments by segmenting important tidbits and providing readers with a chance to catch their breath. In the same vein, having a clearer picture of the direction of my blog entries before I write them would undoubtedly aid organization and enhance readability.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to divide the paragraphs in a blog even if your blog is not that long. I have a tendency to write my blog, like you said, in a stream of consciousness, and then before I submit it I go back to divide the paragraph into a couple different paragraphs. I understand from how I choose to read people's blogs that it can be overwhelming and a person may tend to lose focus on the blog. However, if the blog is written well should separating it into different paragraphs matter? Who knows. I know for me I would rather read several small paragraphs than one huge paragraph. I hope you choose to use this revelation in your future blogs!