Keep your paragraphs short. Writing is visual ─ it catches the eye before it has a chance to catch the brain. Short paragraphs put air around what you write and make it look inviting, whereas a long chunk of type can discourage a reader from even starting to read. Newspaper paragraphs should be only two or three sentences long; newspaper type is set in a narrow width, and the inches quickly add up. You may think such frequent paragraphing will damage the development of your point. Obviously The New Yorker is obsessed by this fear ─ a reader can go for miles without relief. Don't worry; the gains far outweigh the hazards. But don't go too far. A succession of tiny paragraphs is as annoying as a paragraph that's too long. I'm thinking of all those tiny paragraphs ─ verbless wonders ─ written by modern journalists trying to make their articles quick 'n' easy. Actually they make the reader's job harder by chopping up a natural train of thought.