Do’s and Don'ts of Writing ©Feb 2003 Dr. Bradley C. Paul

Paragraph Design  Paragraph Usually Begins with a Topic Sentence Topic sentence normally states the conclusion or result of the paragraph  Sentences that follow normally build to support the topic sentence Often have structure Background data Technical proof or analysis Summary or Conclusion sentences

Outline Development  When individuals have outlines of their section Have their subsection layed out  Now work in an informal way to plan out the sequence of ideas for each subsection Important point here is order of presentation – making sure preparatory information is presented first All Topics are covered

Developing Outlines  Work to develop outlines that will roughly become the topic sentence of each paragraph Check your outline for complete handling of issues Check to make sure that information that is needed to understand later concepts is already in place Look for ideas that flow from one paragraph to the next  Can the last sentence introduce the next paragraph?