How I Write

Everyone is a product of their environment. My environment included eight years in Catholic school, four years of public school, and four years of a private university. At all levels I had a particular paragraph structure seared into my brain. If you go back over my previous posts you'll probably be able to see it.

I introduce the topic of the paragraph with either a witty phrase or bland statement. If I haven't done so already, I'll make central statement of the paragraph or just add some more information. I'll add more information in subsequent sentences. Four or more sentences make a paragraph. I may insert a sentence if I feel that the paragraph is missing some meat. Finally, I'll provide some type of conclusion.

My school papers were always either four or five paragraphs. The first was the introduction. The introduction finished with the central statement of the paper. The next few were the supporting arguments. The final paragraph wrapped up the paper with some sort of conclusion. Generally this was a restatement of the central statements of the supporting arguments followed by a concluding statement that related to the central statement of the paper.

I see this writing style in books that I read. Recently I've been reading non-fiction books like The Tipping Point and The Wisdom of Crowds. While reading these books, I can see the authors falling into this format. I'm trying to figure out if they wrote this way because it is the way that they have been taught or if it is because it is the way that their audience was taught.