The writer must decide what is the when of story.

I’ve seen plenty of comments and recommendations about narrative tense and a lot of the debate is contentious. Although some readers and writers might have no true preference, most are firmly in one camp or the other.

Either they insist using the simple past is the only way to tell a story or they say present tense has much to offer and is as equally valid as past tense.

I don’t intend to start a debate, but I do want to let you know that you have options. And limitations. And that you face the expectations of readers, readers who include agents and acquisitions editors.

___________________________

What we’re talking about is the manner in which you present the actions of your story world. Do narrator and viewpoint characters see actions and events as happening in the past or do they act as if the events are happening right now?

Do they say—

Marlboro raced through the forest. [Past]

Or

Marlboro races through the forest. [Present]

What about these—

Tilly, aching for one sight of her lover, waited at the abandoned cottage and watched for riders on the old north road.

Tilly, aching for one sight of her lover, waits at the abandoned cottage and watches for riders on the old north road.

_________

I feared the man who was my father; his voice alone demanded respect.

I fear the man who is my father; his voice alone demands respect.

The setup for both is simple; the effects are vastly different.

___________________________

Most stories are told using the simple past—was, walked, drank, hoped. Stories using the past tense are written the same way stories have been told for years—once upon a time, sometime before the present time, these marvelous characters existed and lived out a fantastic adventure. They did these things, these events are over, and someone can’t resist telling you all about these happenings and adventures.

When I say most stories, I mean the great majority of stories. Oral stories as well as written fiction are told using the past tense. It’s common to readers, it’s common to writers, and it’s been the prevalent format for storytelling for years and years and years.

It’s so common that readers don’t notice it; they simply jump into the story’s adventure.

The present tense—is, walks, drinks, hopes—on the other hand, is rare. Yes, we all know wonderful stories told using present tense. Yet in comparison to the number of novels that use the simple past, present-tense novels are few in number. Present-tense narration is also much more recent a practice.

From what I can tell from a quick survey of Internet articles, readers notice when stories are told using the present tense. I’m not saying, nor are those readers, that there’s anything wrong with the use of present tense. We are saying that its use is noticeable.

And noticeable mechanics may well not be what you’re trying for.

Let me stress that neither choice is right or wrong on principle. You can use either present or past tense for telling your stories.

The present tense is often associated with literary fiction, short stories, students in writing programs and workshops, and first novels. The past tense is used in most genre novels.

Pros and Cons

Familiarity
Since the past tense is familiar to readers, readers don’t have to adjust when they begin a story written using past tense. There might well be an adjustment period for readers of present-tense stories.

Novelty
Stories told using present-tense narration can be enticing because they’re different. Readers may also end up paying closer attention since the format is one unfamiliar to them. They may develop a deeper involvement in the story.

Immediacy
Some writers and readers believe that use of the present tense makes story action and events more immediate. On the other hand, proponents of the past tense may find that verbs used in the past tense make story events seem more immediate. Because there’s no adjustment needed, readers can imagine themselves in the story from page one.

Believability
Readers have to believe that story events written in present tense are happening at the very moment they’re reading. That’s admittedly a stretch for some readers since they know the story events are not happening in the now. After all, a book’s events have to have been completed before the book was written. Yes, readers can get over this incongruity, but reader perception is something to consider when you choose your narrative tense.

While the present tense is not common in fiction, some writing uses present tense as a matter of course—

Scripts and plays

A synopsis

Essays that use the literary present tense (When writing about the events of a story: Alex then demands a declaration from Stella, but she refuses to humor him. When writing about what a writer says: Tinsdale uses this phrase to show his contempt for his critics’ opinions.)

___________________________

No matter your choice for the narrative tense—

Be consistent—don’t switch between past and present

Use compelling and descriptive verbs

Don’t overuse progressive forms—was walking, is talking

You won’t go wrong using the simple past for most of your fiction. Readers expect it and it won’t get in the way of the story.

Try present tense if you want readers to notice the narrative tense or you want to see if you can make story events even more immediate. Keep in mind that readers might have to make adjustments. Weigh the benefits against the costs—are the benefits, whatever they are for your story, enough to compensate for that adjustment period during which readers will not be fully involved in either characters or plot events?

Be prepared to change from present tense to past in order to see your manuscript accepted by a publisher. You might have to do it; would you be willing to make the change if it meant being published? Could you do it?

 *******

Choose the present tense if you’re trying for a unique feel to your fiction, but know the limitations. Know that readers might not accept your choice. Know that publishers might ask you to change your narrative tense.

Choose past tense when you don’t want to distract the reader, when you want to use the common storytelling method.

Don’t let fear hold you back. Use the narrative tense that works for the story, the genre, and your readers. Know what narrative tense can achieve.

Write strong stories.

Write powerful fiction.

***

While a legitimate punctuation mark, the semicolon has been shunned for use in fiction, especially for dialogue.

Is there a legitimate reason semicolons, or any punctuation, can’t be used in fiction?

You won’t find me telling writers not to use a semicolon.

Punctuation is used for clarity, for emphasis, for rhythm. To deny yourself the use of any punctuation mark is to cut yourself off from an option that might serve your sentence, your scene, or your story.

I’d never tell anyone to always cut out the use of a particular word—for example, don’t eliminate all uses of the word that; some are necessary. In the same way I’d never suggest that a punctuation mark doesn’t have its uses.

With minor adjustments to most sentences, commas and colons and periods can all be made to work in place of the semicolon. But the semicolon brings a rhythm to sentences that other punctuation can’t offer.

Sometimes you want three short sentences in a row, each ending with a full stop. Other times you’ll want to connect those sentences into a single one and use commas and a coordinating conjunction to do so. Other times you’ll want the break—or the connection, depending on how you look at it—that a semicolon provides.

When connecting (or separating) independent clauses, sometimes you want the feel that only a semicolon produces. An example—

Elyse was ecstatic about her son’s release from jail; Joe was ambivalent.

The use of the semicolon here shows that the parts of the sentence are related. The semicolon also reveals the author’s style and the viewpoint character’s feelings.

We could also punctuate the same independent clauses other ways—

Elyse was ecstatic about her son’s release from jail. Joe was ambivalent.

Elyse was ecstatic about her son’s release from jail, but Joe was ambivalent.

Each sentence is valid. But the feel is different.

The sentence with the comma and the but has a softer feel, a smoother flow. You’ll often use this construction for your stories to keep the flow moving. But if you want to stop that flow, want to draw attention to a thought or word or event, you can use a period or a semicolon to halt the momentum of a passage or scene.

Too much of any one rhythm, including unimpeded flow and long sentence after long sentence, lulls (or annoys)  the reader. Can I say it bores the reader? It can.

Forcing the reader to pause or stop shakes him out of the stupor he might have eased into, and a forced stop calls attention to the words at the stop point. You are in fact saying, here is something noteworthy, something different from expectations.

Now, if you want to hide information at the same time you reveal it—clues in a mystery, for example—you wouldn’t point them out in this manner. You’d hide those clues in plain sight by placing them in the flow of the narrative, into the flow of thoughts or description. The clues are there and can be easily identified later; they just don’t draw attention to themselves through sentence construction.

But if you want to draw attention to words or phrases, to a character’s thoughts or feelings or to something the character thinks is important, you can use punctuation to do so.

Use the semicolon or the period to interrupt the flow.

Of course you’ll also want to do the opposite. When sentences are choppy, with too many of them interrupted by semicolons, or when you’ve simply used too many short sentences in a row, substitute commas and a coordinating conjunction for the semicolons and periods to smooth the flow. 

You can also use semicolons rather than commas and a coordinating conjunction to combine a series of those short sentences. This is a useful way to break up an annoyingly repetitive rhythm. Only one way, of course. There are others.

The boy wanted a dog. He hoped to get one soon. He’d always wanted his own puppy. He’d never been allowed to keep the strays he’d brought home.

The boy wanted a dog and hoped to get one soon. He’d always wanted his own puppy; he’d never been allowed to keep the strays he’d brought home.

A natural connection must exist, of course, between the two parts of combined sentences in order for the semicolon to be used correctly. But if that connection exists, use the semicolon.

Varying your punctuation marks gives you variety in sentence construction,  breaks from a monotonous rhythm, and a means of drawing attention to particular words.

___________________________

A quick Google search will reveal advice from writers and editors and other writing professionals that says to never include semicolons in fiction. I can’t see being so dogmatic. If a punctuation mark serves the story—or if it’s a style trait of the writer—use it.

Writers reveal themselves through the words they use and the way they put those words together—through diction and syntax. If a writer uses semicolons, that’s part of her style. Unless a writer’s choices interfere with the foundations and strengths of a story, I see no reason to mess with that writer’s style. A writer’s use of words and punctuation is integral to her style and her voice.

I’m all for pointing out options. But tell a writer she can’t use semicolons? I think that would be short-sighted and clearly a mistake.

I’m curious to know what others think. Have you been told not to use semicolons or other punctuation? Have you directed your clients away from semicolons? Do you think doing so has served writer and story well?

What about other punctuation marks?

*******

While I won’t tell a writer he can never use a certain punctuation mark, I will offer the advice to not overuse the semicolon or any punctuation. Anything that distracts from the story should go, and too much of any one element is a distraction. 

But don’t deny yourself legitimate ways to get your meaning across just because some curmudgeon has a fit about a particular punctuation mark or word or grammar rule. Yes, failure to adhere to some rules could keep you from being published. Use of a semicolon in novels is not one of those sacrosanct rules.

Use the full range of options, but learn to use grammar and punctuation correctly and effectively. Remember your readers and choose options that enhance their reading experiences. Write compelling fiction that carries your voice and style.

Write well today.

***

Punctuation marks—comma, exclamation point, question mark, dash, semicolon, colon, ellipsis, slash, quotation marks, parentheses, and period—have their places in our writing. Beyond doing the necessary, they can also be used to steer attention toward a word or phrase, add emphasis, or distract. Punctuation choices can be used to change pace and manipulate tension.

But when a writer uses weak words and instead relies on punctuation to both create and sustain the drama, the story suffers.

An exclamation point in every sentence of a scene does not create an exciting scene. It does create a visual on the page. A distracting visual that can annoy the reader as well as proclaim that the writer had no idea how to make words work the story.

Punctuation used beyond the expected purposes can slow the reader’s progress. Any time a reader has to stop to figure out what’s going on, has to re-read or backtrack, that reader is pulled away from the fiction.

We all hate when it happens to us. We’re rolling along with Pete Martini, dodging bullets and wisecracks and wise guys, when suddenly we’re pulled up short by a phrase that makes no sense. It could be the words, a typo, or an odd sentence structure. It could be a wacky piece of punctuation that draws the eye and causes us to mentally shake our head and think, “Huh?”

As readers, we don’t like it, and as writers, we shouldn’t do it. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes, especially when you’re rewriting or editing, and take out anything that would slow the reader’s journey through your tale. 

If it’s distracting or unclear, fix it or take it out.

The Nitty-gritty

Use exclamation points sparingly. They have their place in children’s stories and for select moments in adult fiction, but they lose their punch when overused. Instead of the exclamation point, use words to convey excitement or menace.  Shorten sentences to add snap or tension. Insert a one- or two-word paragraph into a free-flowing passage for impact.

Never use both the exclamation point and the question mark together. Choose one. Is it more important to show the question or the exclamation? If you’ve included evocative or powerful or pinpoint-accurate words, your choice should be obvious.

Don’t be a lazy writer. You’re the author; you get to do the work. Don’t make readers decide a passage is frightening because you’ve thrown in an exclamation point at the end. Choose words that convey fright and make that fright clear throughout the passage.

Don’t tell readers what to feel via punctuation. Do introduce emotion through word choice and the unfolding of the action.

Don’t overuse any punctuation mark. Even used correctly, some punctuation just jumps out at the reader. The exclamation point, of course, can be quite noticeable. So are dashes, the ellipsis, quotation marks, and parentheses. Use them, yes. But don’t use them in every paragraph or even on every page.

Substitute italics for quotation marks where possible. Use commas rather than parentheses, if you can.

Consider the visual effect of punctuation. Look at your pages without reading the words. What do you see? If you’re relying on the visuals to snare the reader, reconsider what you’ve written. Readers are expecting fiction in novels, not a layout of words and punctuation that reminds them of business reports. Tell the story as you have to, but don’t forget what it looks like, on the surface, to readers unfamiliar with it.

Change sentence format and structure. If all your sentences meander, with many, many commas and semicolons, change up your format every once in a while. Those many commas will start to jump out at the reader, especially over the length of a novel. And they’ll bother him. And no one wants readers too annoyed to finish a book.

Consider your approach to character asides. Some writers use parentheses exclusively to indicate a character’s side revelation to the reader. Yet, if you’re using first-person narration, you’ve already given readers access to a character’s thoughts. Determine if it’s necessary to add the visual of parentheses to highlight those thoughts.

I strolled on the south side of the First Avenue (a cheap way to up my tanning time) and prepared to meet Gus Costanza, Mr. Remington’s enforcer.

I strolled on the south side of First Avenue, a cheap way to up my tanning time, and prepared to meet Gus Costanza, Mr. Remington’s enforcer.

Limit uses of unusual punctuation in a sentence or paragraph. Unusual punctuation marks do stand out, so don’t overburden any single section of writing with too many of one kind (or even too many of a mix of marks).

The em dash is often used in pairs. Does a sentence really need more than one pair? It could use them, but is it necessary and does the use hinder the flow or does it enhance the drama?

Barry—head held high and chest pressed forward—raced toward his sister while she—equally proud and stubborn—ran the other direction.

Personally, I think this sentence works well. But would I like to see a lot of this? Not in every sentence. And I wouldn’t like to see the dash combined with parentheses.

Barry—head held high and chest pressed forward—raced toward his sister while she—equally proud and stubborn—ran (or more accurately, jogged) the other direction.

Can you break the punctuation rules? You know my answer to that—of course you can. But choose your rule-breaking opportunities for maximum impact. And play by the rules when doing so enhances the story.

Always remember the reader. Make the experience of reading your fiction one of satisfaction, even if your story is intended to rile the reader. Let the plot or a character drive readers mad rather than leaving that to a poor use of punctuation.

Let the story—words and action, dialogue and character and emotion and conflict—draw the reader’s focus. Push punctuation to the background, where it can work without pulling attention away from the plot and impinging on your characters’ lives.

Use words to tell your story. Use punctuation to frame it.

***

Maybe you’re writing about a vampire or a super man who can move at the speed of light. If so, your character probably can accomplish several tasks rather quickly.

If you’re not writing about such a character, however, your characters might not actually be multi-tasking as much as finding themselves subject to an impossible combination of actions you’ve created for them.

Do you mean to imply that your detective can race down an alley at the same time he jumps into his car?

Does your thief pull a diamond free of its vault while he’s sliding down the banister to make his getaway?

Does Elsie painstakingly put on eyeliner as she’s pulling on her jeans?

I know, you wouldn’t write action combinations such as these. But if you did, your sentences might look like—

Zeke, running through the alleys after the masked man, jumped into his Mustang.

While Jones kept watch for the guard, Smith artfully pulled the Queen’s Knot from the museum’s vault, sliding down the double-wide banisters with ease.

Elsie, yanking her jeans up by the belt loops, painstakingly lined her eyes with kohl.

I find a lot of such sentences when I edit. Some, like the first example, don’t seem too bad. Most are not as blatantly impossible as the third.

Yet no matter where they fall along the range, sentences with concurrent—or seemingly concurrent—actions might need adjusting. If characters cannot perform two actions at the same time—because the characters don’t have enough limbs or the actions occur in different places or one action must always precede another—then those actions can’t be written as though they’re concurrent. Instead, write them as consecutive actions. Serial actions. Actions that follow one another rather than happen at the same time.

This may sound almost trivial, a matter too inconsequential for its own article. But if you write sentences with impossible concurrent actions, readers will notice. Agents and editors will notice as well. And such sentences not only make your characters seem unreal, they make the story seem false. Inconceivable. Not as true as what can be read in the daily newspaper.

Yet your goal is to get readers believing your tale is just as true as what they read about in news stories.

So while the topic isn’t as flashy as plot or dialogue or theme, it is important. 

____________________________________

If you have multiple actions in a sentence, simply check to see if you’ve written them in a way that the character can logically perform them.

Zeke can’t be running, on foot, through the alleys at the same time he jumps into his car. He can whistle while he runs. He can holler out to the one he’s chasing. He can make a phone call, wheeze painfully, even hold on to his heaving side.

But he can’t jump into his car and run at the same time.

He can do one after the other.

Zeke ran through the alleys after the masked man but stopped to jump into his Mustang when he reached State Street.

Zeke ran through the alleys after the masked man, stopping to jump into his Mustang when he reached State Street.

Zeke ran through the alleys after the masked man, then stopped to jump into his Mustang when he reached State Street.

Again, the original of this particular example doesn’t seem too wrong. Many readers might not even notice that Zeke was running through alleys and jumping into his car at the same time. But what about this? Zeke, running through the alleys after the masked man, backed out his Mustang. Is the impossibility more obvious?

The key is to understand what you’re asking of your characters as well as the sequence of the actions. Be sure characters can do what you’ve written for them to do.

Change impossible combinations of actions into actions that work.

From

Trudging up the stairs, Sid raced down the hall to his bedroom.

To

After trudging up the stairs, Sid raced down the hall to his bedroom.

From

While Jones kept watch for the guard, Smith artfully pulled the Queen’s Knot from the museum’s vault, sliding down the double-wide banisters with ease.

To

While Jones kept watch for the guard, Smith artfully pulled the Queen’s Knot from the museum’s vault. Then the two slid down the double-wide banisters with ease.

Or

While Jones kept watch for the guard, Smith artfully pulled the Queen’s Knot from the museum’s vault before sliding down the double-wide banisters with ease.

What to look for
Check out your use of present participles, participial phrases, and absolute phrases. Look at two or more actions written into one sentence. Make certain that either the character can perform several actions concurrently or that the actions have been written to show they happen consecutively.

These Work

Wanting to show off his new bike, Teddy pedaled hard toward his Gran’s house, blowing bubbles all the way.

Webster, lifting weights in the shadowed corner of the weight room, planned his next assassination.

These Don’t Work

Wanting to show off his new bike, Teddy pedaled hard toward his Gran’s house, dragging his feet all the way.

Webster, lifting weights in the shadowed corner of the weight room, raced around the track to plan his next assassination.

Some actions can be performed at the same time as other actions. Other actions must either follow or come before.

Thinking and planning, most anything to do with the mind, can be done while performing physical actions. Actions having to do with feeling—grieving, smiling, hurting, loving, hating and the like—can also be paired with physical actions without too many problems. It’s the combination of physical actions that you’ll want to look out for.

Let your characters multi-task when they need to. But don’t make them ridiculous by asking them to do more in the same moment than they can logically do.

Some can walk, talk, and chew gum at the same time. Others might need to concentrate on their steps and leave the gum chewing to less active moments.

Proofread your manuscripts for multi-tasking run amok. Look for impossible combinations of actions.

Make your characters real by ensuring they’re not super men and super women, capable of inhuman feats. Simply give them believable combinations of actions that they can pull off in a manner befitting the genre and their everyday abilities.

Craft your sentences with care so character actions seem natural and possible and don’t cause your readers to stutter over what you’ve written.

***

They are both tools and essentials for writers, an integral part of the writer’s skill set that requires attention from beginning writers and easy familiarity from experienced writers.

Writers need to know how to put grammar and punctuation to work.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach the topics of grammar and punctuation; both are such basics for writers. We learned how to use grammar in our native languages when we first learned to speak. We learned about punctuation when we first learned to read. And since those early days, we’ve put both to use in our own writing—for schoolwork, for pleasure, for business dealings.

I don’t want to harp on about grammar and punctuation, on the rules and nit-picky minutiae. But . . .

You knew there’d be a but after that opening, right?

But grammar and punctuation cannot be ignored or set aside by writers.

Grammar and punctuation are not the meat of your stories, but they are the framework that makes story stand.

Grammar and punctuation (can we call them G&P?) are necessary elements of any piece of writing—if you want to communicate, you’ve got to make your meaning clear. And clarity goes beyond word choice.

Words and story have to be arranged to convey what you want to say, what you want the reader to take in. You can’t put words in front of readers and expect them to arrange them into meaningful bits of information.

That’s your job.

Anyone can pull words out of the dictionary and string them together; a string of words doesn’t make story, not even a string of electric, exotic, evocative words that pleases the ear or trips off the tongue.

But words that make sense and make connections and make a reader think or feel or shiver, those words do make story.

So . . .

What do I suggest is important in regard to grammar and punctuation?

Learn more than the basics.

You’re the writer or the editor. Grammar and punctuation are two of the tools of your trade, and you should know them inside out and upside down and backwards and forwards and any other way they can be known. You should know how to use them and what they’re capable of, and you should look for new ways to put them to work.

You should know when to choose this rule of grammar rather than that one, and what the use of each punctuation mark would mean for a sentence or phrase.

You should know what both correct and incorrect grammar will achieve and what happens when you don’t use expected grammar or a typical punctuation mark.

While you may want to surprise your readers with an unusual plot thread or uncommon construction, you don’t want to be surprised by grammar or punctuation mistakes. Knowledge of grammar and punctuation rules will cut down on unintended errors.

Treat G&P as any craftsman would treat his tools, with a combination of respect and casualness.

Don’t take good grammar for granted, as though it can perform magic without your hand behind it, as though it can make up for bad plots or weak characters. But at the same time, don’t fear it or spend so much time on it that you can’t write.

You should know how to clean up grammar and punctuation, just as any artist knows how to clean his tools. And not simply know how to clean them; you should remember to clean them, actually set up a schedule to do it. Yes, you should be sure you edit for G&P and make them shine.

Spend time periodically reviewing or learning something new about grammar or punctuation.

Learn the uses of a semicolon. Read up on commas (I know, exciting, exciting). Go shopping for used grammar books and read a different one every year or two.

Brush up on modifiers or phrases or gerunds. Not because your grammar must be perfect, but in order to remind yourself there are other ways to write something, other methods to present your character or setting or action or dialogue. Other ways to craft a sentence or a phrase. Other ways to provoke an impact.

Unless you’ve got a degree in English (or the language you write in) or one in creative writing, you probably don’t know all the rules. Unless you’re a grammar expert, there are constructions that you’ll either use incorrectly or be ignorant of.

There’s nothing wrong with looking up grammar or punctuation rules, but if you don’t know what to look up, you may have a tough time finding what you’re looking for. You may not know you need to search for information at all.

I admit that I don’t know all the rules. I have grammar books on my desk just as I have dictionaries there, and I’m grateful that several someones made the effort to gather the rules in one place so I could review them.

Don’t sweat blood over the grammar of each phrase, each tiny punctuation mark.

Yes, you want to punctuate correctly, you want to get the grammar right and use a variety of options that take advantage of a wide knowledge of grammar. But you don’t need perfection.

Does that sound blasphemous?

I don’t mean it to be. But striving to perfect a manuscript can cripple a writer, can have her so fearful of mistakes that she either can’t write with a flow that brings life to her stories or refuses to submit her work until it’s perfect.

I don’t want that to be your fate.

Realize that the perfect novel manuscript is rarer than the most uncommon gem and that if you’re waiting for perfection before you submit, you’ll likely wait forever.

An agent or acquisitions editor is not going to reject your manuscript because of a few typos, grammar blunders, or punctuation flubs. They know how to recognize good story. And they know how to correct grammar and punctuation errors.

There is a caveat, however: you do owe your readers (and that includes agents and editors) a clean, polished manuscript. So practice due diligence. But don’t let that diligence paralyze you.

Break the rules when doing so serves the story.

Sometimes you’ll want a comma where no comma has any business being. Put it in if you’ve got a reason to do so—you’ll be able to argue your case with your copy editor.

Don’t be afraid to take chances. But do so knowing what you’re doing and why and the possible repercussions of choosing an odd grammar construction or an unusual punctuation mark.

As atypical word choices can lead to poetry in prose, offbeat grammar or punctuation can lead to delightful phrases, rhythms, and meanings.

Be willing to explore non-standard constructions.

Don’t get hung up on the terminology.

You don’t have to know grammar terms to use them correctly. Unless you’re in school, no one’s going to test you on your knowledge of terms.

But do know how to use grammar. Knowing what’s available will expand your options and strengthen your stylings. The more ways you can work a sentence or phrase, the more potential you have, quite literally, at your fingertips.

__________________________________________

We’ll explore particular grammar rules and individual punctuation marks in other articles. In this one, I wanted to stress the importance of correct grammar and punctuation while at the same time assuring you that a lack of knowledge about some point of grammar or punctuation should not keep you from writing.

There’s nothing that says you can’t learn the rules. There’s nothing that says you can’t learn how to break those rules. There’s nothing keeping you from presenting your manuscripts in the best manner possible, not when the Internet and writing groups and classes, many free, offer abundant resources to help you.

If you expect readers to pay for the pleasure of reading your stories, if you want agents and editors to take you on, you owe them each the courtesy of well-written fiction, well-crafted stories.

Give readers the best of you. Show them you want them to enjoy the stories you place before them, that you want them to read more of your work. That you’re serious enough about your craft that you’ll put in the time and the sometimes tedious effort necessary to produce the best stories you’re capable of writing.

Respect their time and money and their interest in you by refusing to produce shoddy, lazily written books.

Don’t let the writing tools—any of them—intimidate you. They serve you. Put grammar and punctuation to the task of presenting your stories with the strongest foundations possible.

Learn your craft and put it to work on your behalf.

***

I don’t find that absolute phrases are rare as much as I find them misused. Or perhaps I should say misconstructed.

Let’s start by defining an absolute phrase and giving some particulars for it.

It’s a modifier, a noun phrase, that modifies a sentence. Where an adjective modifies a noun and an adverb modifies a verb or another adverb, an absolute phrase modifies the full sentence.

It’s an addition to a sentence that tells us more about the sentence.

It’s not essential to the sentence structure, so the sentence is grammatically correct without it. (Although it may add vital meaning to the sentence.) The absolute phrase is almost always set off by a comma or a pair of commas.

It typically contains a noun followed by a modifier, though sometimes it will simply be a modifier.

It often contains a participle (past or present), but it could instead be a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, or an adjective phrase.

It does not contain a finite verb (one that indicates tense, person, or number).

It does not connect to the rest of the sentence with a conjunction.

It’s often a more focused view or an expansion of the sentence it modifies. (It tells more by narrowing in on a specific detail.)

Some absolute modifiers imply the unstated words being or having.

Absolute phrases can come at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of sentences.

There are two types of absolute phrases. One type explains a cause for or a condition of the rest of the sentence. These types of absolute phrases could be rewritten as subordinate clauses introduced by since, because, or when.

The second type adds detail or narrows the focus of the sentence. These types of absolute phrases could be rewritten and changed into main clauses or introduced with the proposition with.

A few examples (words in brackets can be written or merely implied; sentences in parentheses have been rewritten, with the absolute phrases removed)—

[Having been or Being] [T]aken for a thief, Constance decided to act the part.

The moon only a quarter full and the stars hidden, the night offered a landscape of shadow. (This could read, With the moon only a quarter full and the stars hidden, the night offered a landscape of shadow.)

The suspect [being] long gone, a party atmosphere returned to the Johnson family barbecue. (Since the suspect was long gone, a party atmosphere returned to the Johnson family barbecue.)

Timmy John Jenson, meek in attitude and bold in determination, intended to ask for a raise. 

Terence continued his stroll down Main Street, [his] cares abandoned, [his] fears lost behind a double dose of Prozac.

Noelle, [her] heart pounding, lifted a trembling hand to the door knocker. (With her heart pounding, Noelle lifted a trembling hand to the door knocker OR Noelle’s heart pounded as she lifted a trembling hand to the door knocker.)

Thunder pounding again and again just outside the bedroom, Astrozoom the Wonderdog quivered under the bed. (Since thunder pounded again and again outside the bedroom, Astrozoom the Wonderdog quivered under the bed.)

They seem easy enough to write, these sentence modifiers. So why, or how, are they misconstructed?

I find this construction used incorrectly when the absolute phrase doesn’t have a strong enough connection to the rest of the sentence. It’s either not an expansion of the sentence or not a focusing in on one part of the sentence. While the format is often correct, the words themselves do not work as a sentence modifier.

So, what doesn’t work as an absolute phrase, even though the setup looks right? These sentences do not work—

Noelle, the sun shining brightly, lifted a trembling hand to the door knocker. X

Terence continued his stroll down Main Street, airplanes taking off at the airport. X

Astrozoom the Wonderdog quivered under the bed, children playing in the yard. X

What would be the absolute phrases in these sentences don’t mean anything to the sentences. The sun shining brightly has nothing to do with Noelle’s trembling hand reaching for a door knocker. It’s not a cause of Noelle’s shaking hand, nor is it a focusing in on a detail that gives us more information about Noelle lifting that trembling hand to the door knocker.

This is the construction I find most often misused, this reference to a weather condition. If lightning or thunder or wind is a cause of a character’s actions, use the absolute phrase. If not, try a different wording.

For Terence, airplanes at the airport have nothing to do with him walking down the street. We could have said any of the following and been correct, depending on the true circumstances—

Terence continued his stroll down Main Street, cars zipping past without pause.

Terence, happy and oblivious, continued his stroll down Main Street.

Terence continued his stroll down Main Street, his boss busily working back at the office. (With his boss busily working back at the office, Terence continued his stroll down Main Street.)

These make sense for Terence and the conditions of the street. The third example makes sense only if we know that Terence left his office with a lot of work undone or if he had an argument with his boss before he left. If the reader knows nothing of his office conditions or that he skipped out, leaving everything for the boss, this particular sentence wouldn’t work.

This same understanding of the plot or story events is important for making sense of Astrozoom’s last sentence as well. If Astrozoom is terrified of the children playing in the yard and the reader is already aware of that, his sentence would be acceptable. We would know it was because of the children playing in the yard that A-Zoom was quivering under the bed. Yet, without that knowledge, the sentence doesn’t make sense as it stands.

Yet, even knowing that children playing in the yard caused Astrozoom’s quivering, I’d reword that sentence, making sure the connection was obvious.

With the neighborhood children hollering and carrying on in the back yard, Astrozoom the Wonderdog quivered under the bed.

Sometimes an absolute phrase is the perfect way to shortcut a long explanation. Sometimes, however, the reader needs the explanation.

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Absolute phrases are one more way to introduce variety into your writing. But if they’re used incorrectly, they may have readers scratching their heads, trying to make sense of something that has no meaning. Be sure that your phrases make sense at the sentence level and make sense in the context of the scene.

Add absolute phrases.

Make them specific.

Broaden your sentence constructions.

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This is an expanded version of my answer when reader Sara asked—

Can you give me any suggestions for the use of single quotes– besides their use ‘inside’ a quotation? I’d like to use them to add emphasis to single words within text.

Are there any hard and fast rules?

In fiction, at least with American English, there’s really no other use for single quotation marks than a quote within another quote (typically when a character is speaking and quoting someone else). Note: British English can use single and double quotation marks in the reverse, with singles for dialogue and doubles for quotations within dialogue.

Single quotation marks have quite specific uses outside of fiction—

~  Use single quotation marks for quotes within a quote, the same way fiction presents such quotes.

“I want to go,” I said quite clearly. “But she said, ‘Not with me. You can never travel to Paris with me.’ “

~  In discussions of linguistics or phonetics, a foreign word is italicized and if the definition follows, that definition is enclosed in single quotation marks.

~  Words with philosophical or theological meaning, when used in articles or books about philosophy or theology, are often put in single quotation marks.

~  Single quotation marks are used in newspaper headlines when quotation marks are required. (Space is limited for newspapers; they cut punctuation wherever they can.)

~  The cultivar name of a plant is put in single quotation marks, though in the past it was written cv. + name.

In American English, single quotation marks aren’t used very often and always for specific purposes. If you’re writing fiction, stick with double quotation marks.

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To emphasize text, you can use either italics or double quotation marks. In some circumstances, one is preferable to the other. Never use both to indicate emphasis. 

Italics
~  Use italics to show shock or to emphasize a word that a speaker might emphasize—He ran all the way to the police station vs. he ran all the way to the police station. A different emphasis gives a different meaning.

~  Use italics to set off non-English words in English text. If the word has become commonly used and is understood, there is no need to italicize it.

Maxwell’s nom de plume is Rastaglio. His pretensions are clear, yet he writes for an unsuccessful feuilleton.

~  Use italics for sounds—boom, crack, brrr—if you intend for readers to hear the sounds.

Quotation Marks
~  Use quotation marks, always double, to set off special words, such as words you make up or highly specialized words. You only need to use the quotation marks the first time the word is used in your text.

Arthur and company are scalawags and “gutterturdlians.” And that’s all I have to say about them.

~  Also use quotation marks to indicate irony or sarcasm.

Italics or Quotation Marks
Use either italics or quotation marks for words used as words—Marlowe was talking about humidity, but he kept saying “timidity.” Marlowe has trouble with words; he uses weary for wary.

Both quotation marks and italics stand out; they attract the reader’s attention. Use them sparingly so the reader isn’t pulled from the fiction. But do use them. Their use is one more option for bringing variety to your fiction.

I find quotation marks stand out more than italics, so I tend to recommend italics more often. They accomplish their purpose, but they allow the word to blend into the sentence.

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Emphasizing words or phrases allows you to add nuance and shading, and the use of emphasized words can help make a character stand out. But because this technique of emphasis is visual, it can quickly distract or annoy the reader.

Let italics or quotation marks be a tool for emphasis, but only one of several. Make the flow and meaning of the story stand out to the reader. Don’t rely on punctuation to do the work of words.

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I have been reading Dorris Lessing and Henry Miller. Both use multiple characters with dialogue in the same paragraph. Lessing often introduces them with a Semi-colon. I very much like what they are doing, but I don’t feel confident about my choices to do that in my own writing. And now I have this problem. I am writing some paragraphs in which a person is overhearing or taking in remarks from others. If I give them all a paragraph it feels like it gives them too much importance and makes them kind of stronger characters in the story. But I don’t want them in the story, they are a crowd of people, and I want the character to feel the general sentiment of the crowd.

He sat on the rooftop listening to them speak to the police. “He went that way,” the girl said. “He was fat,” another stated. “And ugly,” said another. “It was the most awful thing in the world.” “You should kill him.”

Anyway, this is just an example. Could you talk about both of these situations?

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Great questions. Let’s look at the second first.

I agree with not wanting to give bit characters too much attention by giving each their own line of dialogue. The readers won’t see them again, and there’s no reason for them to have time, space, or attention. So . . .

Report the dialogue rather than having anyone speak it. Or maybe report most of it but let one line stand out as quoted dialogue.

He was on the rooftop, listening to the witnesses speak to the police. One claimed he went east, another called him fat, and yet another said he was ugly. One woman—older, he guessed, because of the tremor in her voice—said, “It was awful. You should kill him. Kill him dead.”

You can weave the character’s reactions through the indirect dialogue.

He rested on the rooftop, listening as the witnesses talked over one another to give their stories. One claimed he ran east down Pope Street, another said he went west and turned at the corner. One man said he was fat. Tommy patted the towels he’d stuffed under his shirt; worked every time. He frowned, however, when another man said he was uglier than his favorite mutt. And Tommy knew his eyebrows rose when he heard, “You gots to catch him and kill him, officers. Else no decent folks will sleep peacefully tonight.”

Use whatever fits the story to bring out even more from the character who is overhearing the conversation. Show his reaction to the dialogue.

Of course, you don’t need to include any of the details at all. Just report that the character heard others talking. This is a good technique if the character can’t see what’s going on. Also good if you just want readers to know what was happening without giving importance to what was actually said.

He crouched on the rooftop, hidden from the witnesses and cops gathered at the west side of the building. Damn, but they wouldn’t shut up, those busybodies giving descriptions of his looks and telling which direction he’d gone.

He crouched on the rooftop, unseen by the cops and witnesses standing outside the library’s side door. He really hated being seen when he did his business, but those blabbering idiots were actually helping him. They had the cops more confused than a hunting dog trapped between a rabbit hutch and a geese sanctuary.

If you want to keep it brief, just go for the basics.

He hid on the rooftop, listening and grinning as witnesses gave the cops conflicting descriptions of his size and clothing, and pointed them in three different directions.

In situations such as this, there’s no reason to describe the speakers or even quote their words. The reader doesn’t need to know who said what, only that certain words were said or that a conversation happened. I’d definitely go for indirect dialogue in such cases.

However, if you still want to quote them for some reason, you’ve got a few options.

You can group the dialogue as though you were presenting a set of quotes.

Tommy overheard the witnesses telling the cops what they knew: “He went down that way and you can catch him if you run fast,” from a child; “His face was as ugly as his crime,” from a clearly not hysterical woman; and “I would’ve tackled him, except he had that gun, you know,” from a man. Probably the linebacker he’d noticed a little too late to halt his plans.

To me, this is visually busy and distracting and still gives too much emphasis to the speaker.

A simpler option . . .

Tommy overheard the witnesses telling the cops what they knew: he went down Jinzer Avenue; his face was butt ugly, covered in scars and stuff; that loser was one fat, really fat, dude; you got to catch him now, officer.

No, I didn’t use quotation marks. This construction suggests that the character is overhearing bits and pieces and that the identity of the speaker doesn’t matter and/or isn’t known. It can also be used to signify that the hearer isn’t catching every word. This use of italics rather than quotation marks is a stylistic decision. One I would recommend you don’t use often. But it can be effective for just this kind of dialogue. Think of a character walking through a party, overhearing snippets of conversation.

We always want clarity for the reader, so make sure the reader won’t be tripped up by unusual punctuation or constructions. Focus on elements that are important for the reader to notice and present those elements clearly.

What does dialogue do to the character?

Also, as is always good, you can show how dialogue affects the character. Overheard dialogue only means something as it means something to the one who hears it. Consider showing the character’s feelings or actions from these overheard words.

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Now to Terry’s first concern, a variation of the second one.

Although many books written some time ago did permit multiple speakers in a single paragraph, such is not the norm today. Readers expect all the dialogue in a paragraph to come from one speaker.

The writers Terry mentioned did write late into the twentieth century, but they also learned the rules much earlier. Their choices might merely reflect the rules they knew. You’ll find that most writers today will separate character dialogue into multiple paragraphs.

Are there exceptions? Always. And we’ve seen some here. But writers are creating a world and experiences for the reader. We don’t want to cause a reader to stutter or have to reread a paragraph. Any time the reader is confused, he’s taken a step away from the fictional world. There’s no reason to distract him with odd constructions, to make him think, “Huh?”

If characters are having a normal conversation (if that’s possible in fiction), there’s no reason to jar the reader with oddities on the formatting side. Sentence construction and punctuation serve the story; they shouldn’t detract from it.

Again, having said that, of course you can try novel ideas. Just realize they might not suit your reader. And your first reader may be an acquisitions editor at a publishing house or someone at an agent’s office. Instead of assuming you’re trying something special for your story, she may instead assume you simply don’t know the rules of writing dialogue. Breaking the rules could be a gamble.

As for introducing dialogue with a semicolon? I can’t see the purpose for that. A colon, yes. A colon can substitute for a comma to introduce dialogue or quoted material. A semicolon, however, is not the punctuation for that purpose. You can use a semicolon to separate elements within a sentence. You don’t use it to introduce those elements.

Keep in mind that the using the colon to introduce dialogue is a bit old-fashioned; your younger readers might not understand it. Just something to be aware of if you do choose to go that route. You might want to restrict the colon’s use of introducing quoted material to non-fiction writing; you’ll find it to be more common there. (But it is valid for fiction, so feel free to use it.)

Note: I don’t make it a practice to tell writers that they absolutely can’t do something; writers often find their greatest moments of creativity when they break the rules. But the rules exist because they work. They work for the writer, the reader, and for the piece of writing. They allow the writer to communicate in a way the reader can understand. So . . . Learn the rules. Use them. Play with them if you want to. Break them when doing so serves the story. But remember the reader. Put yourself in his shoes. Look through his eyes. And write accordingly.

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I hope these examples and explanations answer Terry’s questions and help anyone else wondering about these issues.

If you’ve got a comment, something to add, please share it with us.

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1.  Start sentences with capital letters.
2.  Never start a sentence with a conjunction.
3.  End sentences with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.
4.  Never end a sentence with a preposition.

You’ve heard these, right? And you’ve probably tried to stick to them, at least with your formal writing.

But did you know that not all of these rules are true writing rules? Someone, somewhere, made up a couple of these.  For good reasons, they thought. But some of these “rules” needlessly burden writers.

So how about we forget them, those writing rules that aren’t rules?

Here are a few you can toss out . . .

Never start a sentence with a conjunction

Do it. Start sentences with conjunctions. Use the coordinating conjunction of one sentence to connect to the sentence that came before. I’ve already broken this so-called rule a couple of times in this article. There’s no reason not to, and using conjunctions to start a sentence gives the writer one more way to construct sentences—vital if you’re writing a 100,000 word manuscript.

Note also that what the rule-makers meant by this rule was not to use the coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Plenty of subordinating conjunctions (because, until, while, if) are used to begin sentences every day.

Max asked how I felt. But I didn’t want to tell him the truth.

The little boy stuck out his tongue. And his mother did nothing. So I crossed my eyes, blinked, and turned both of them into frogs. At least I did in my imagination.

Never end a sentence with a preposition

If you followed this non-rule, you’d certainly create some stilted constructions.

It’s not exactly what I’d been thinking about (or of). (It’s not exactly that of which I’d been thinking.)

I wasn’t sure which manager I should talk to (or with). (I wasn’t sure with which manager I should talk.)

He wondered who she planned to go with. (He wondered with whom she planned to go.)*

I know what I’m talking about. (I know about what I’m talking. Wow. That’s awful.)

You know who I’m talking about. (You know about whom I’m talking.)*

Who’d you want to give it to? (To whom did you want to give it?)

Can you imagine your characters using some of these phrases? The effect would be stuffy. Instead, let them speak (in dialogue) or think as their characters would. As flesh and blood people would.

Don’t worry about prepositions at the ends of sentences except if the preposition is unnecessary.

Where’s is at? (Where is it is sufficient.)

Where are you going to? (Where are you going is sufficient.)

Never split infinitives

Go ahead and split them. We’re not talking about atom splitting here. The skies will not roll up. You’ll not be the harbinger of the end of the world.

 The king has plans to personally, and handsomely, thank his rescuers.

She vowed to once again remember her mother’s advice.

I’d hoped to readily acquiesce, but I wasn’t quite so happy by the time I heard all the concessions I’d be forced to make.

Could you word these sentences differently? Of course. Several different ways with different rhythms. But separating to from the verb gives you yet another tool for building phrases and sentences.

Never use none with plural verb forms

Very simply, none is sometimes singular and sometimes plural.

When none is used for a singular noun or for a mass noun (money, furniture, equipment), use a singular verb.

When none is used for a plural noun, use a singular or a plural verb, depending on your meaning.

All of the following are correct.

None of the girls was ready for the dance. (Not one)

None of the girls were ready for the dance. (Not any of them)

None of the music was appropriate. 

None of the furniture is fancy.

None of the musicians were dressed appropriately. 

None of the musicians was dressed appropriately.

None of the family want to go to the park.

None of the family wants to go to the park.

Always/Never use the serial comma

This one’s up to you and your publisher’s style requirements. The serial comma is the final comma in a list of three or more items. (It often comes before a coordinating conjunction.)

These are correct with and without the comma.

I want a tiara, ruby slippers, a feather boa, and an emerald ring.

I want a tiara, ruby slippers, a feather boa and an emerald ring.

Jenny cried, laughed, or snorted; I couldn’t tell which through my own tears.

Jenny cried, laughed or snorted.

Never write in sentence fragments

Right. As if writers don’t do this all the time. And to good effect.

You don’t need to always write in complete sentences. And your characters certainly don’t always need to speak complete sentences in their dialogue.

Yes, the fragments should make sense. But they don’t need to be full sentences.

Was and were indicate passive voice and you should never use passive voice

Two wrongs don’t make a right, and there are two errors in this non-rule. Let’s look at the first error first.

It’s not the use of was and were that indicates passive voice. Passive voice refers to a construction where instead of the subject of the sentence performing an action, the subject is acted upon.

These are examples of the passive voice.

Samson was overwhelmed by Delilah. (Samson, our subject, did not do the overwhelming.)

Peace and love were overtaken by angst and turmoil. (The compound subject of peace and love was acted on by angst and turmoil.)

Broken promises should be ignored by those who love us. (Promises are not doing the ignoring.)

These are examples of the active voice.

Samson was an overwhelming warrior.

Peace and love were strong, but they couldn’t stand up to angst and turmoil.

Broken promises killed her marriage.

The second error? Passive voice is sometimes necessary and writers are allowed to use it. We use it when we want to hide or don’t know the person or thing responsible for an action. We can also use it when the agent of the action is less important than what happened.

Mistakes were made and confidences betrayed.

Little Jamie was mauled by a dog that came out of nowhere.

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Are there real rules you should abide by (by which you should abide)? Yes. But these are not those.

Learn the rules that allow you to communicate with your readers, that allow you to create realistic worlds into which your readers can run with eagerness and abandon.

But don’t let non-rules bind you.

Don’t be limited by rules that are no rules at all.

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* Yes, this can be said He wondered whom she planned to go with (and You know whom I’m talking about). But if the sentences were in your character’s POV, how would he be likely to word them? Most people don’t write whom and they don’t think it. Be true to your characters. Use whom after a preposition, but otherwise, think of your character and your audience.

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Most of us know what a paragraph is, those sentences joined into clusters and separated by line spaces. They’re groupings of words that separate sections of narrative and join similar thoughts or assertions or dialogue or actions.

Paragraphs are visual cues to writing, cues for keeping the reader on track.

If you’re writing a novel or short story, you’re well beyond this definition:

A paragraph consists of a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.

Yes, there’s more beyond this simple advice we all got back in school when we first met the mysterious essay.

We still write in paragraphs, grouping and separating information chunks, but we know there’s more to paragraphs than what we learned in middle school. Let’s examine the elements of a paragraph, the elements that help you craft enticing paragraphs that can be connected into scenes and chapters and ultimately into a complete manuscript.

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How to think about a paragraph

Frame
Consider a paragraph as a frame for a specific amount or section of information. In fiction this may be description, dialogue, action, exposition or any combination of these elements. The paragraph acts as a boundary or fence for related items.

This frame or boundary can be expanded to add more related information or contracted to limit the information it contains. 

Link
A paragraph is a link, a connector, between the sections of information that come before and those that come after. Paragraphs look back, connecting logically to what has already been presented, and they look forward, preparing the reader for what’s to come.

Separator
On the flip side of link, the paragraph serves as a separator, keeping at a distance sections of information that aren’t closely related. Paragraphs help the reader separate topics or sections of a story; they prevent different groupings of information with only nominal connections from running up into each other.

Paragraphs help readers make sense of the thousands of pieces of information a writer folds into a story.

Scene Builder
Paragraphs joined to one another make up scenes. These scenes, with each paragraph pulling its own weight, contribute to conflict, character revelation, description and setting, and advancement of plot.

Paragraphs are the blocks—along with scene and chapter—that build story.

1.  Blocks on the bottom, those that form the foundation of the story, must be strong enough and wide enough to support what is placed on top of them.

2.  Blocks can be removed, added, or rearranged. But the writer must realize that a change in a single block might necessitate changes in adjacent blocks. And a single change can send ripples through every block in the story.

3.  Some blocks—paragraphs in our example—are a better fit between two blocks than another block would be. They allow for a tighter fit, with fewer opportunities for unexpected and unwanted shifting.

4.  Moving blocks around to create a stronger, firmer, and more cohesive story is a necessity for creating stable stories, stories that don’t fall apart.

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Specifics about paragraphs

Length
A paragraph can be as short as one word or can run for pages. In fiction, the paragraph, as does any other element, must serve the story. If the style of the story calls for long paragraphs, write them. Keep in mind that long paragraphs can be hard on the reader, can confuse the reader with their twists and turns and digressions. But if you can write a long paragraph that the reader can follow—and long paragraphs fit the scene and story and characters and the moment—then write it. You can always edit if a long paragraph doesn’t work.

Sometimes the only editing required is the simple insertion of a line space.

A paragraph of only a single word, whether dialogue or narrative, is often more powerful than five paragraphs filled with action or detail or emotion. Consider using extremely short paragraphs to jar the reader or to make an unmistakable point.

A series of short paragraphs with either only a few words or sentences speeds the pace of a story. Short staccato paragraphs can indicate a character’s frame of mind or attitude or personality—tense, terse, worried, short-tempered, a man or woman of few words. Long paragraphs—meaning many words or many sentences—also reveal character. They may say that this character is someone in no hurry (or pretending not to be), someone who talks a lot, or someone of great self-importance.

This revelation of character happens whether or not the paragraphs are dialogue, whether or not the character is overtly revealing himself. If the reader sees through the eyes of a character, that character can be portrayed by the type of paragraphs used for his viewpoint. Thus, a writer can use different paragraph stylings for each viewpoint character.

Purpose
A paragraph is used to hold information together, to let readers know that sections of text belong together. To help readers follow the meaning of the text without becoming lost or confused.

Paragraphs are facilitators and signposts. Their format is traditional and understood by most readers. So when a writer uses them incorrectly, readers will notice and can be pulled away from the fictional world. They may respond by putting down the book.

Paragraphs add to scenes and contribute, with other paragraphs, to conflict, character development or character revelation, setting, and advancement of plot.

Order
Information revealed by paragraphs, especially in fiction, is typically presented chronologically; stories begin at one point in time and move forward. Flashbacks and flash forwards are exceptions, and experimental fiction may purposely mix up the order of scenes.

Concurrent scenes may have to be presented one after the other, even though their times overlap, but the diligent writer makes sure readers understand the order of events and the timetable.

Still, most story events unfold one after another.

Format
In fiction manuscripts, the first line of a paragraph is indented (half an inch is standard). A line break between paragraphs mirrors the break in thought. (And allows the reader a moment to catch his breath.)

If paragraphs are not separated by a scene or chapter break, a paragraph should have a logical connection to the one it follows. The first sentence in successive paragraphs should connect to the prior paragraph or set up a contrast to it.

The new paragraph may refer only obliquely to the prior one, or it can repeat words, phrases, or thoughts from the other paragraph.

Paragraphs can reveal new information about revelations from paragraphs that have come before, they can expand on those paragraphs, and they can approach the same information from another angle.

Paragraph Breaks
Begin a new paragraph, in fiction, with a change of speaker. Each time dialogue switches to a different character, start a new paragraph.

Begin new paragraphs with a change in thought or to change direction, to delve deeper into the same subject, to sum up, to change emphasis or focus, or to change tone.

Elements
Sentences and phrases within paragraphs should be logically related.

In dialogue, however, a character might jump from subject to subject in the same paragraph. (Dialogue allows for many exceptions to writing rules.)

Paragraphs can consist of full sentences or phrases or a combination of the two. You don’t always need to write a complete sentence.

The two most important places in a paragraph are the opening and the closing sentences. Information presented in these locations is the most readily noticed, and remembered, by readers. If you want the reader to note something, place it at the beginning or the end of a paragraph. (The last words of paragraphs that end scenes or chapters are especially remembered by readers.)

If you want to include information but also want to hide it—perhaps clues to a whodunit—write that information into the middles of paragraphs with other attention-getting phrases both before and after it.

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A quick search of information about the paragraph repeatedly turns up the advice about including opening and concluding sentences with supporting sentences in between. But writers should know more about paragraphs than that.

They should know that short paragraphs can create and convey tension, that they can speed the pace of story, and that a lot of white space on a page is more appealing to readers than pages of dense text would be.

Writers should know

that a short paragraph, perhaps a sentence of only one or two words, dropped into the middle of a series of long paragraphs can have the effect of an exploding bomb.

that information can be both revealed and hidden inside paragraphs. 

that paragraph style can influence the tone and feel of a story for the reader.

that variety in paragraph length and in sentence construction within paragraphs can create a better reading experience for their readers.

that crafting paragraphs requires both skill and art.

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Suggestions

Play around with paragraph lengths to see what effect they have on the tone of the story, on its feel. On the pace.

Try breaking paragraphs in different places to change their impact. Study the differences and see which arrangement better serves the story.

Eliminate entire paragraphs if they don’t advance the plot; reveal character; elicit reader emotion; establish, change, or maintain tone; or portray setting.

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Use paragraphs to strengthen story, to reinforce the other narrative elements. Don’t be satisfied with paragraphs only doing a small percentage of what they can do for your writing. Call on them to support and build strong, rich stories.

Demand more of paragraphs than what you did as a student just learning the craft of writing.

Demand that paragraphs serve your purposes and your stories.

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