Lesson 3: Presentation and Format
This lesson teaches you how to lay out text on a page to best effect, how to structure proper paragraphs and how to make use of blank space. It examines alternatives to using a word processor and provides an overview of the use of special characters.
Paragraphs and Use of Space
Proper use of paragraphs enables people to skim through documents quickly to find information of interest to them. It helps to break up information on a page and improve overall appearance. It's an important way of organizing information.
There are no strict rules as to when you should finish a paragraph and start a new one. The easiest way to approach it is this: each paragraph should contain information about a particular idea. When you introduce a new idea, you can do so in a new paragraph. However, you shouldn't carry over assumed information between paragraphs. For instance, if you are talking about Steve in one paragraph you should use his name again the first time you mention him in a later paragraph, rather than using the personal pronoun 'him' as shorthand. Each paragraph should make sense if read in isolation.
In most business documents, it's best to keep sentences and paragraphs short. This will enable you to deliver information clearly and efficiently.
In these lessons, paragraphs are distinguished from one another by the blank lines between them. You'll often see this method used in modern business documents and in the press. It makes it easier for you to present text symmetrically on a page, so that the page looks neat.
If you want to give your documents a more traditional, literary appearance, you may prefer to distinguish paragraphs by indenting the first line of each. You can do this on a computer by using the tab key. Some writers like to use blank lines and indenting. Whichever method you choose, it's important to be consistent.
Using plenty of blank space makes a document easier to read. Many readers find pages full of dense text intimidating. They're more likely to read something if it's broken down into manageable sections. Margins should be at least an inch wide. This not only improves the appearance of the text, it provides somewhere for readers to make notes directly connected to particular parts of the document. Space at the top and bottom of the document makes your headers stand out and makes page numbering easier to follow.
Business documents should always be written on one side of paper only, even if they are hand-written. Each page should be clearly numbered. This avoids confusion if the reader is looking for a particular piece of information within a document that is several pages long. It also enables the reader to lay out several pages face up on a desk when cross-referencing.
