Had a few emails this week about structuring paragraphs. My main bit of advice here is the title of this post: spill the beans fast. That means saying your point before giving evidence for it.
You are not writing detective fiction. The conclusion you arrive at in a paragraph doesn't have to be a wonderful 'aha!' surprise to the reader. It's better if it isn't.
So when you are writing, (1) state your point outright. (2) Then support it. (3) And then explicitly relate it back to the question if the point's done.
E.g.,
(1 SPILL THE BEANS) Tom Cruise is a nutter. (2 EVIDENCE) This, this, this, this, this, this and this. (3 SUMMARY) Taken together, the evidence indicates that Tom Cruise is bat-shit crazy.
Obviously, the way I have laid it out here is rather stark and if you were to write an essay which used this method doggedly it would be a jolty read. However, beneath the nuance and sophistication of essays and papers with better suspension, if you look deep enough into the structure, you will find this method at work.
(Watch this brilliant spoof of Tom below; the mannerisms are just perfect)
You are not writing detective fiction. The conclusion you arrive at in a paragraph doesn't have to be a wonderful 'aha!' surprise to the reader. It's better if it isn't.
So when you are writing, (1) state your point outright. (2) Then support it. (3) And then explicitly relate it back to the question if the point's done.
E.g.,
(1 SPILL THE BEANS) Tom Cruise is a nutter. (2 EVIDENCE) This, this, this, this, this, this and this. (3 SUMMARY) Taken together, the evidence indicates that Tom Cruise is bat-shit crazy.
Obviously, the way I have laid it out here is rather stark and if you were to write an essay which used this method doggedly it would be a jolty read. However, beneath the nuance and sophistication of essays and papers with better suspension, if you look deep enough into the structure, you will find this method at work.
(Watch this brilliant spoof of Tom below; the mannerisms are just perfect)
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