One Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Salutations, I thought I would make a topic about structuring a paragraph, grammar and general English skills. (This will be a boring read) I decided to make this because too many a times I have looked into a topic, and been greeted by a wall of text, which is annoying to read. So I thought, why not enlighten people on how you can make your post more presentable and easier on the eyes. Paragraphs are what make something easier to read, they separate big chunks of text into smaller, more readable chunks. Most paragraphs are about 6-8 lines long, and normally just contain one idea. When posting multiple ideas, break them up into paragraphs. When you break into a new paragraph, you normally start 1 space inwards, to show you have started a new one, and people can see it. Punctuation is also key for a good topic. It defines a new sentence and gives your brain the chance to take a break in the reading, instead of just constant text. After any punctuation a space is normally left in-between the device and first word of the new sentence, because it spaces things out and looks a lot more presentable then: This is an example,of what it looks like with no spacing.As you can see it does look worse and may be more difficult to read.That is why spacing is important. While spelling is not hugely important, I'd rather read a post with good spelling than one without. If you aren't good at spelling, just look for the little red line that appears under a word when it is misspelt, it's a great tool and is there to help you. So there we go, my little take on how to improve your posting. Please note I am kind of a grammar Nazi, and find it very annoying to read unstructured walls of text. Which is why I made this. If you made it this far I salute you. EDIT: You cannot indent your paragraphs, so ignore that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lᴜᴋᴇ Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 I am the grammmmmar nazis too like you know man, like your too so totalyl maet as well uo know. This is so important. I hate reading posts which don't conform to this. It really doesn't take much to make your post look at least presentable. Remember: That is your game. You're looking good today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 I like it, but you told everyone that when you make a new paragraph to indent, you didn't do that, at all... Thank you though, I am also a grammar Nazi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 I like it, but you told everyone that when you make a new paragraph to indent, you didn't do that, at all... Thank you though, I am also a grammar Nazi! I actually think the site automatically pulls the sentence to the side, making indenting impossible. Testing the Indent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Biggles Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Grammar Nazi here. <3 Interesting post mate, very fun reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highplainsdrifter Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 I've always had a problem with my sentences being to long, for some reason I think everyone will understand exactly how I'm saying it regardless of the millions of commas. Making multiple lines instead of block paragraphs also sounds interesting. I do have a question though, I really like use the indent to indent the whole of the paragraph sometimes. I feel like it can make things more noticeable if it's a medium length description of something amongst more medium length descriptions. Usually when I do this however, I number paragraphs or add some kind of outline format to the structure so it isn't just hanging there. Is that useful or confusing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father B Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 I don't think it makes much of an impact one way or another, Drifter. However, if the numbering of paragraphs means something that you believe is necessary, then I can't imagine why you should leave it out. Regarding indentations here on our forums, I'm not sure if the BBCode for indenting works or not. *Tests* Yup! It works. [indent=1] Tra la laaa. This is the paragraph that I want indented. [/indent] Just be careful with it, because the forum's post editor likes to see you struggle with formatting and will demand a virgin sacrifice before it reliquishes control back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedStarRocket91 Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Salutations, I thought I would make a topic about structuring a paragraph, grammar an general English skills. Oh dear, this should be 'and'! I decided to make this because too many a times I have looked into a topic, and been greeted by a wall of text, which are annoying to read. Whoops! This should be either 'too many a time' or 'too many times', as otherwise you're mixing up singular and plural! Also, it's either 'a' wall of text, which is singular and thus 'is' annoying to read, or it's the plural 'walls' of text, which of course 'are' annoying to read! Punctuation is also key for a good topic. It defines a new sentence and gives your brain the chance to take a break in the reading, instead of just constant text. After any punctuation a space is normally left in-between the device and first word of the new sentence, because it spaces things out and looks a lot more presentable then: This is an example,of what it looks like with no spacing.As you can see it does look worse and may be more difficult to read.That is why spacing is important. Punctuation actually refers to more than just full stops: as you can see by the symbols I'm using here, it actually covers a whole range of ways to break up sentences - like this! So there we go, my little take on how to improve your posting. Please note I am kind of a grammar Nazi, and find it very annoying to read unstructured, walls of text. Which is why I made this. Commas aren't needed unless they're breaking up lists or clauses, so it should just be 'unstructured walls' of text! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Oh dear, this should be 'and'! Whoops! This should be either 'too many a time' or 'too many times', as otherwise you're mixing up singular and plural! Also, it's either 'a' wall of text, which is singular and thus 'is' annoying to read, or it's the plural 'walls' of text, which of course 'are' annoying to read! Punctuation actually refers to more than just full stops: as you can see by the symbols I'm using here, it actually covers a whole range of ways to break up sentences - like this! Commas aren't needed unless they're breaking up lists or clauses, so it should just be 'unstructured walls' of text! I wrote this in a rush, oh god I'm so ashamed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole the bomb Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 I'm glad to see people sticking up for good grammar. Everyone makes grammatical mistakes (including myself), but I think it may have been a better idea to research what you have presented to us as some of it is not complete or is misleading. But the idea of an accurate tutorial/help thread on grammar and written communication is an excellent idea. Perhaps this will be modified and will be a helpful thread in the future. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedStarRocket91 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 I wrote this in a rush, oh god I'm so ashamed. I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist! In seriousness, it's actually a very good style guide and I'd encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with it. I just happen to be a massive pedant with a warped sense of what constitutes irony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZB-85 Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 Thanks for the guide One. Now I'll be sure to correct my English wherever it is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auramyst Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 Grammar Nazi here. <3 Interesting post mate, very fun reading Grammar Nazi here. <3 Interesting post mate, very fun reading grammar nazi! haha that's funny and clever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.