A common practice among novice authors is to dive into a paragraph without stopping to offer the classic topic sentence. You probably remember the idea of ​​the topic sentence that our teachers tried to instill in us in high school. The topic sentence is neither more nor less than a description of the theme or basic point of the paragraph. Without a guiding topic sentence, readers often get confused about the true importance of a paragraph. Or just grab it at the end. Knowing the focus of the paragraph at the beginning provides context that helps the reader retain more of your ideas and content.

This paragraph, for example, begins with a topic sentence. Tip: Of course, if you work on a computer, you don’t have to write it down first. I often find that I sometimes write a better one after I finish writing a paragraph, because I have a keener sense of the topic and content of the paragraph.

One way to capture this style is to imagine yourself at a party having a casual conversation with a stranger who expresses interest when hearing about the topic of your book. Imagine how you would explain it to him. then write it in what way. Tarcher calls it the “conversational style.” Tip: Many popular magazine articles are written in this style.

Pick one and study the way magazine writers phrase things. Here is how the sentence (“All of these destructive behavior patterns have arisen, of course, as a result of dysfunctional family processes internalized during the stage of infant development”) could be rephrased in the conversational style: “The fact that you explode in rage Uncontrollable drinking to hide from your problems, drifting from one superficial relationship to another, and engaging in other self-destructive behaviors is a direct result of watching your alcoholic father do the same when you were a child.

Hint: Passive tenses create remote, boring prose that distances readers. Examples: “She had been abused by her father.” versus “Her father abused her.” Or, instead of, “he was crippled by depression.” say, “Depression paralyzed him.” Or, rather, “Doing your exercises every day will make you stronger.” writes: “Exercising every day makes you stronger.” The latest examples are clear, immediate, enveloping.

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