Writing Style: How to Use Paragraphs and Space

Writers, in all forms of writing, no matter the genre, take up space with their words. Most writing conventions have a particular set of rules that dictate how to use space, and these are usually due to printing or reading demands. Leaving emptiness in writing is essential Don't believe it? Try typing a random passage but leave out the spaces between the words - it doesn't make any sense, does it?

An author can skillfully use the white space around words in artistic ways to form a unique writing style, even within the limits given by conventional language. This is a guide about how to skillfully use the empty parts of your pages to create emphasis.

Writing Style: Using Paragraph Indents

The most basic use of space in style is paragraph indentation. Written traditions are derived from oral traditions, and leaving pauses and gaps in between words is like a brief pause after one before the next. Just like in the visual arts, white space places more emphasis on the central object or passage, because the human eye is drawn to it. We want there, as is natural, to be something other than solid white, so we search for it. In oral and written traditions, pauses and silences create tension. During the pauses or gaps between words, a reader's eye will be pulled toward what comes afterward.

Generally, paragraphs convey a single idea overall with supporting sentences and the main idea. This applies in fiction, essay writing and other types of writing. Not only does this create artistic effect, it also makes the text easier to read. Although they're not fiction, I've seen articles here on AC and elsewhere that are, as we call them, 'walls of text'. No paragraph breaks whatsoever. This is intimidating and straining on the eyes, and because of this it's the absolute quickest way to lose readers.

Paragraphs in fiction are used to denote a sense of changing action or dialogue. After all, the rule for writing is that whenever the speaker changes, there's meant to be a new paragraph. This helps to keep the reader aware that there's something different going on than there was recently. If there is a sense of quick, fast paced action, breaking writing up into many smaller paragraphs works better than fewer, longer ones.

Writing Style: General Use of Space

There are other effective uses of space in writing; for instance, an author can separate certain passages with a gap at intervals throughout their writing. What this allows is for the reader to take in the recent dialogue or action, digest it and prepare or anticipate the next possible event. This works for plot in fiction; on the Internet, the standard procedure is to leave spaces between paragraphs to allow the eyes to experience less strain.
In fiction, longer scenes can be made more intense with skillful separation, because it makes for a natural dramatic pause (and occasionally allows the reader to take a breath - how many novels have you read and literally forgotten to breathe at an important scene?)

Space is also used in writing to show changes in time or place. If you read any of Kurt Vonnegut's work, notice that events tend to be set apart as a series of anecdotes, relieving the need to create linked impressions. There are natural intervals between words and word groups, dictated by the way we speak. Differences in pitch, syllable emphasis and volume, to be exact.