Make Your Point Obvious

If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time—a tremendous whack. (Winston Churchill)

Did someone ever tell you, “Oh, so that’s what you mean”? Did someone ever ask you, “What’s your point?” In both cases, and in similar situations, the problem is the same. You have an important point to make, some issue to state, or some important idea to convey, but the meaning is obscured by your style. You were not clear.

Churchill made an astute admonition: Make your important points clearly and without artifice.

As I have written a number of times, style is important, but it is secondary in importance to clarity. To improve communication, write clearly so that your reader can easily identify and understand your important points.

Ask yourself, “What does the reader really need to know? What do I want the reader to understand about this?” Then state it as clearly, concisely, and obviously as possible.

Having done so, you might think that you are too blatant, too plain, and too obvious. But that’s exactly what you want for your most important points. You want to use the “pile driver.”

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This is the strategy for day 291 in 300 Days of Better Writing, available at Hostile Editing in PDF, Kindle, and paperback formats.

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Top writing strategies and expert instruction from each of Precise Edit’s writing guides 1 critical article from Precise Edit Training Manual 8 days of instruction from 300 Days of Better Writing 5 top strategies from Bang! Writing with Impact 2 essential word choices from Which Word Do I Use? 1 major comma use from Zen Comma 1 section on main verbs from Concise Guide to Technical and Academic Writing Get the free e-book (PDF) OR Purchase the Kindle version ($0.99).

Guidelines for 1-Sentence Paragraphs

Many writers struggle with paragraph length. Is it long enough? Is it too short? How many sentences in a paragraph? Can a paragraph be just one sentence? Here are four “days” of advice about paragraph length from 300 Days of Better Writing, with an emphasis on the one-sentence paragraph.

Day 88: A one-sentence paragraph should present a complete idea.

Paragraphs can be written many ways. In nonfiction documents, a paragraph may first establish context, provide supporting details, and conclude with an impact statement that leads to the next idea.

In fiction or narrative documents, for another example, a paragraph may show a single action or provide a character’s immediate response to an experience. Some writers use long paragraphs to fully explore an idea, while others may prefer short, terse paragraphs.

In all cases, however, the purpose of a paragraph is to present one idea to the reader. The complexity of the idea and the reader’s need for explanation determine paragraph length. A careful writer will balance the reader’s need with his or her style preferences.

This brings us to a question I have been asked occasionally. How many sentences should be in a paragraph? The answer I give is based on the “one idea per paragraph” concept: at least one.

If the preceding paragraphs have provided sufficient information for the reader to understand the idea, and if the connections between the ideas are clear, and if the value and implications of the idea will be obvious to the reader, one sentence may be sufficient. 

Day 161: Use a 1-sentence paragraph to emphasize a critical idea.

Every paragraph discusses one and only one idea. In most cases, a paragraph will have 3 to 7 sentences. However, you can use a 1-sentence paragraph that satisfies the requirements for an effective paragraph. If the reader already understands the context, and if the idea is self-explanatory and does not require discussion, your paragraph may only need the final impact statement.

The 1-sentence paragraph only contains an impact statement.

Unlike paragraphs with multiple sentences, a one-sentence paragraph places heavy emphasis on the idea. It is a high-impact tool for telling the reader, “This is very important.”

Few ideas require this level of emphasis. Used sparingly, one-sentence paragraphs can be very effective for pointing out critical ideas or keeping the reader mentally focused on the content.

On the other hand, a document with too many one-sentence paragraphs loses this effect. The writer who uses too many, or uses them too close together, is telling the reader that many of the ideas are very important. As a result, he or she loses the ability to point out specific ideas as being the most important.

Sentences Make Transitions

In the same way that paragraphs need transitions to help the reader understand their relevance, sentences need transitions. Actually, every sentence is a transition from the previous sentence to the next. This means that a sentence will refer to the information in the previous sentence and provide clues about what the next sentence will address.

To create transitions, the words near the beginning of a sentence must relate to the topic or idea of the previous sentence, and the words near the end must relate to the topic or idea discussed in the next sentence. These transitions show the relevance of information in a sentence and help tie multiple ideas together into a cohesive whole idea.

Let’s look at an example.

(1)The operant conditioning chamber was first developed by Skinner while he was a graduate student at Harvard University. (2)He used the chamber to study the effect of inputs on rats. (3)Various devices in the chamber provided inputs that, over time, ‘taught’ the rats to behave in predictable ways.

Consider sentence two. The words “chamber” and “study” refer to the operant conditioning chamber and Skinner as a graduate student, respectively, which are discussed in sentence one. The word “inputs” refers to the topic of inputs in the third sentence.

In this way, sentence two provides a transition from sentence one to sentence three while adding new content.

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This is the strategy for day 25 in 300 Days of Better Writing, available at Hostile Editing in PDF, Kindle, and paperback formats.

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Free E-book to Improve Your Writing Skills

Top writing strategies and expert instruction from each of Precise Edit’s writing guides 1 critical article from Precise Edit Training Manual 8 days of instruction from 300 Days of Better Writing 5 top strategies from Bang! Writing with Impact 2 essential word choices from Which Word Do I Use? 1 major comma use from Zen Comma 1 section on main verbs from Concise Guide to Technical and Academic Writing Get the free e-book (PDF) OR Purchase the Kindle version ($0.99).

Transitions and transition words

Creating transitions between ideas can be tricky, but it is necessary. A smooth, coherent flow of ideas requires effective transitions. Here are two of eleven strategies from 300 Days of Better Writing to help you.

Day 163: Use transition words and phrases to switch topics.

You are writing about one idea, and now you want to write about a new idea. You could just switch from one to the other, but this may confuse the reader. This is a bad idea. The reader may exclaim, “Wait a minute. I thought I was reading about . . . Why am I now reading about . . . ?”

You can use transition words and phrases to answer this question and make the transition smoothly. These words and phrases inform the reader that you are changing topics. Some examples are below.

“In light of these ideas/concepts/facts, . . . .”
“This raises the idea that . . . .”
“Additionally, . . . .”
“Furthermore, . . . .”
“This brings us to the idea that . . . .”
“Having discussed . . . , we need to turn our attention to . . . .”
“Next, . . . .”

Day 172: Use transition words infrequently.

Day 163 discussed using transition words to inform your reader that you are switching topics. Although this is perfectly acceptable (and sometimes necessary), you should only use this technique sparingly.

In effective writing, you relate new topics to previous topics so that each new idea seems like a logical extension of the previous topic. When you begin writing about the new topic, your first task is to discuss how it relates to the previous topic. If you are switching to a new topic, ask yourself these questions:

1. Why do I need to write about this new topic at this time?
2. How does this new topic relate to the one I just discussed?
3. Will the reader be able to answer the first two questions?

Do this well, and the reader will know you are writing about a new topic and will understand why. You won’t need the transition words.

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These two writing strategies are from  300 Days of Better Writing, available at Hostile Editing in PDF, Kindle, and paperback formats.

For a sample of 300 Days of Better Writing and other books by Precise Edit, download the free ebook.