Getting Started on Your Paragraph

Before you start writing a paragraph, you need to decide two things.

1. What are you writing about?
2. What do you want to say?

The purpose of any paragraph is to express an idea. Most paragraphs consist of a few related sentences.

You can write a successful paragraph by starting off with a plan. The key to doing a successful paragraph is to break down the writing into short, simple steps.

• Subject of your paragraph

Write down the subject of your paragraph. To express your subject, write only a word or phrase. Who or what are you writing about?

• Pre-writing for your paragraph

Begin by brainstorming. Brainstorming doesn't involve writing complete sentences or paragraphs. Brainstorming involves coming up with ideas using words or short phrases.

• One popular way to create pre-writing ideas is to ask yourself questions about your subject.

Here are some questions you might ask yourself:

• What do I know about this subject?
• How does this subject relate to me?
• What do I like or dislike about this subject?
• What words best describe it?

Write only a word or phrase in response to each question.