Paragraph essentials: what is a paragraph . . . and when should you begin a new one?

At some time during our school life, most of us were told that when we want to begin writing about a new idea we should start a new paragraph. And if you think I'm going to tell you anything different here then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed – new paragraphs are indeed started when a writer has a new idea they wish to introduce into their discussion. The trouble is, it can be difficult in practice to know what a new idea actually is. A person might argue, for example, that every sentence expresses a new idea; however, we certainly don't have a separate paragraph for every sentence that we write!

Generally, a new paragraph represents a shift of focus by the writer which is usually the result of one of the following:

• a new argument;

• a new point in a sequenced argument containing a series of logical steps or thought processes;

• a new stage in a process or procedure, or a discrete element of a description;

• an alternative point of view;

• a discussion or explanation of each point or item in a list – one paragraph for every point/item.