As a reader, what is your attention span tolerance for the minimum and maximum number of sentences in a paragraph?

Please state your opinion in the following format, for example:

A maximum attention span of five sentences per paragraph for atmospheric description;

A minimum of a sentence per paragraph for sharp dialogue in battle scene.

Eldoria said:

Attention Span Tolerance for Min-Max Number of Sentences in a Paragraph​

Please state your opinion in the following format, for example:

A maximum attention span of five sentences per paragraph for atmospheric description,

A minimum of a sentence per paragraph for sharp dialogue in battle scene.

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Uh...isn't a paragraph 'cut' when an entire single idea was expressed on it, which should be around 3-5 sentences?

Hans.Trondheim said:

Uh...isn't a paragraph 'cut' when an entire single idea was expressed on it, which should be around 3-5 sentences?

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As a light novel writer, I agree that 3-5 sentences is the limit for a paragraph.

But, I suspect readers of Western novels might be a bit uneasy, as they might prefer longer paragraphs.

However, for TikTok readers, 3-5 sentences per paragraph seems excessive and tiring (well, I'll tell my little nephew to stop watching TikTok. lol).

Eldoria said:

As a light novel writer, I agree that 3-5 sentences is the limit for a paragraph.

But, I suspect readers of Western novels might be a bit uneasy, as they might prefer longer paragraphs.

However, for TikTok readers, 3-5 sentences per paragraph seems excessive and tiring (well, I'll tell my little nephew to stop watching TikTok. lol).

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Hmm...I don't think it's just for light novels. Concise sentences and paragraphs are loved by Western readers as well, and that standard I just told you came from my old college course, which includes business correspondence, limiting our paragraphs to around 3-5 sentences and rarely go over 200-300 words.

Also, yes, Tiktok and other similar apps degrade the attention span.

Hans.Trondheim said:

Hmm...I don't think it's just for light novels. Concise sentences and paragraphs are loved by Western readers as well, and that standard I just told you came from my old college course, which includes business correspondence, limiting our paragraphs to around 3-5 sentences and rarely go over 200-300 words.

Also, yes, Tiktok and other similar apps degrade the attention span.

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In theory, that's true. But I'd love to hear what other readers think, dude. I've seen web novels with giant paragraphs that take up an entire mobile screen, and surprisingly, some readers actively comment.

Eldoria said:

In theory, that's true. But I'd love to hear what other readers think, dude. I've seen web novels with giant paragraphs that take up an entire mobile screen, and surprisingly, some readers actively comment.

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Try on the main site, and put the question at the end of your chapter. At most, only a few readers drop by this forum; most are authors like us.

Hans.Trondheim said:

Try on the main site, and put the question at the end of your chapter. At most, only a few readers drop by this forum; most are authors like us.

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Well, you're right. But I also believe every author starts as a caring reader.

Eldoria said:

Well, you're right. But I also believe every author starts as a caring reader.

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Yes, true, but being an author might've affected our technical 'takes' on the question, and so it might end up differently for pure readers.

Kinda like how when I haven't taken up cooking, I taste a McDonald's burger as something 'delicious' and 'meaty'. Now that I know cooking and food processing, all I taste is...extenders.

I'd limit it to 6 average-sized sentences. If it's more than four and features a lot of dialogue, it's easy to get lost in it, so it also helps to add a little bit of additional narration.

Also, a paragraph should at least contain 2 sentences, or it just feels weird. Of course, there are perfectly fine exceptions. (Like dialogue/short responses).

This is an interesting question.

0

I don’t read.
Kidding.
I read on mobile, and I don’t measure it by the number of sentences but by the number of lines. There are short, staccato sentences and long, complex, comma-happy sentences. But if a paragraph takes 7–8 lines to get to the point, I skip it.

That's kind of hard for me to define. One sentence can either be very short or very long. One paragraph can consist of one sentence, but that one sentence can intentionally be a really long run-on sentence. In the stories I read, sentence and paragraph lengths are used to create effects via the flow and pace of words. That's what I implement in my writing, too.

That doesn't mean I like or write page-long paragraphs though. Those can get a bit ridiculous, especially from books back in the day that were paid based on word/page count. But I'd happily sit through any length of writing that tells its story not only through its words, but also through the arrangement of its words, for the enjoyment of reading.

I'm going to say it.Mabel, cover your ears!

as your own personal Isekai'd here from 1985 vintage paperback novel reading? I'll say it. Again.
freaking one sentence paragraphs are weird.
two sentence paragraphs, when you want to make some "point"? please.

now what do I hear. Maybe 4 sentences is the proper limit. oh, its 5 or 6 sentences. Get REAL.
the REAL rules of writing?
the chapters will be as long, or as short, as they need to be to achieve the goals of the chapter.
the paragraphs, will be as long or as short, as achieves the PURPOSE.

one sentence paragraphs work, for a POINT MADE. Or, to act as "dialog framers". If you don't do "inline dialog, and treat every dialog as a separate paragraph.

I read hundreds, maybe more than a thousand paperbacks growing up.
i never once, questioned paragraph's length. chapter length.
whine about your precious "phones" all you want, got nothing top do with w-r-i-t-i-n-g
super short chappies, made some "pithy point"
long chapters? whatever.
arguing how many sentences, make for the "proper" paragraph length.

pathetic. (meme; look, just look... at the state of you)

(don't take that last statement the wrong way. I (honestly) don't intend it mean.)

I? am tired. "the kind of tired, that sleep can't fix" (another meme)
and I've said *nothing* that wasn't standard writing advice... up until... phones.
when, in the ever loving &^%$, are we going to overcome... phones.

I mean, seriously.
you own a 900 dollar phone, I dig that.
what the hell is a 50 dollar cheap tablet, to read on at that point.
less than the cost of a carton of smokes.
@Eldoria :

thanks, honey. getting positive support from "the Oracle"? Gives me... hope.

AstreiaNyx said:

0

I don’t read.
Kidding.
I read on mobile, and I don’t measure it by the number of sentences but by the number of lines. There are short, staccato sentences and long, complex, comma-happy sentences. But if a paragraph takes 7–8 lines to get to the point, I skip it.

Click to expand...

then you're not a reader. you just skim.

A paragraph should be long enough to express an idea, and you should separate the actions of characters between them as well as their respective dialogues. Paragraphs should have varied lengths for what is happening.

Here is an example of it happening naturally in my story:



Keep in mind, this was taken from desktop. On mobile it would look different.

I prefer the traditional novel format.

However, I do most of my reading on a mobile device now, so I prefer no more than 2-4 sentences, then a space for eye relief. If there is one thing on a phone I hate, it is being presented a wall of text.

Dialogue follows the same thing. If the person is explaining something and it takes more than a couple of sentences, I will put a break in the speech just to give my readers' eyes a break.

Excerpt from DEN

"So what does this mean, Mia?" He asked her, no longer hiding the fact that she was a former member of these clans.

"They are waiting for you to accept their challenge. Traditionally, you are supposed to tell them what forces you are using to defend the planet, and where the battle will be held. You may also put forth what you wish take as Isorla if you win the battle, which is usually battlemechs, though if I am honest, you will not win.

On top of the fact that it is most likely a Battlecruiser coming towards the planet, it is standard doctrine to have at least a Galaxy on board one of those with multiple dropships to ferry them around. Those numbers alone could easily take the entire Oberon Confederation and that pirate nation at the same time. On top of that, Clan technology is superior even to Star League weapons; everything that I have seen here would fall in short order to even most of our lighter-weight mechs. Not to mention their warriors have trained at operating mechs from a very young age, over nearly everything else."

TinaMigarlo said:

I'm going to say it.Mabel, cover your ears!

as your own personal Isekai'd here from 1985 vintage paperback novel reading? I'll say it. Again.
freaking one sentence paragraphs are weird.
two sentence paragraphs, when you want to make some "point"? please.

now what do I hear. Maybe 4 sentences is the proper limit. oh, its 5 or 6 sentences. Get REAL.
the REAL rules of writing?
the chapters will be as long, or as short, as they need to be to achieve the goals of the chapter.
the paragraphs, will be as long or as short, as achieves the PURPOSE.

one sentence paragraphs work, for a POINT MADE. Or, to act as "dialog framers". If you don't do "inline dialog, and treat every dialog as a separate paragraph.

I read hundreds, maybe more than a thousand paperbacks growing up.
i never once, questioned paragraph's length. chapter length.
whine about your precious "phones" all you want, got nothing top do with w-r-i-t-i-n-g
super short chappies, made some "pithy point"
long chapters? whatever.
arguing how many sentences, make for the "proper" paragraph length.

pathetic. (meme; look, just look... at the state of you)

(don't take that last statement the wrong way. I (honestly) don't intend it mean.)

I? am tired. "the kind of tired, that sleep can't fix" (another meme)
and I've said *nothing* that wasn't standard writing advice... up until... phones.
when, in the ever loving &^%$, are we going to overcome... phones.

I mean, seriously.
you own a 900 dollar phone, I dig that.
what the hell is a 50 dollar cheap tablet, to read on at that point.
less than the cost of a carton of smokes.
@Eldoria :

thanks, honey. getting positive support from "the Oracle"? Gives me... hope.

Click to expand...

I’ll have you know I skimmed your meandering reply despite the short sentence paragraphs.

Touché.

Anyway, what makes you decide who is a reader and who isn’t? I didn’t know there was some sort of gatekeeping elitism around being a reader. Some avid readers skim a lot. Especially after going through many WNs with similar progression, they automatically fill in the scene themselves without needing to slog through an entire paragraph.

Efficiency in paragraphing isn’t purely for efficiency’s sake, but a respect for your own words, not writing meandering, purposeless sentences. Make your words matter if you want your readers to remember your points.

I hate short paragraphs,

that looks

like this. It

makes totally no

sense and is

annoying af.


Gimme the chonkers. Gimme the walls. Forego the one-liners. Feed me the commas, as they are the anchors that keeps me reading.
Give me big, beautiful, proper sentences that show what the author had in their mind while creating the scene.
In battles, short sentences do not "make it feel faster," no. It makes the battle feel shallow, rushed, as if the author either didn't know how to convey what they want or didn't want to write it in the first place. Properly written scene can have a whole monologue in one's head while not diminishing the speed of the battle the character is in.

The dialogues though, that depends. First and foremost, they need to fit the individual characters and so should be written and formatted to fit one that speaks, else it can destroy the immersion and "me" of the characters that speak, generalizing them.

In short; I have a tendency to drop stories that make paragraph every sentence, because they are annoying af to read.

Makimaam said:

Anyway, what makes you decide who is a reader and who isn’t? I didn’t know there was some sort of gatekeeping elitism around being a reader.

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I guess i'm some sort of weirdo, but "reading" to me, is the act of reading all the words.

Makimaam said:

Some avid readers skim a lot.

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To me, that's not reading. That's "sort of reading". Again, I guess I'm just a weirdo, with a weird definition of "reading".

Makimaam said:

Especially after going through many WNs with similar progression, they automatically fill in the scene themselves without needing to slog through an entire paragraph.

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Wow. They already know what's going to happen, so they just skip paragraphs. I don't know whether to blame the readers at that point, or... who, exactly. This doesn't seem weird to you? That all the books in someone's favorite genre are so similar, they just "skim" and skip paragraphs, already knowing what "story beat" is being "touched".

Makimaam said:

Efficiency in paragraphing isn’t purely for efficiency’s sake

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this sounds illogical. That's why I separated it.
Its like saying walking isn't for getting from here to there, or that drinking water isn't to quench thirst.

Makimaam said:

but a respect for your own words

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the last one, together with this one. To me, my impression is that it just "sounds cool" to say it.

Makimaam said:

not writing meandering, purposeless sentences.

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not everyone likes to read at a little kid's level. level. Tiny sentences. One sentence paragraphs.

Makimaam said:

Make your words matter if you want your readers to remember your points.

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or stated another way, why bother. they're just going to read one sentence and "skim" (skip?) assuming it, Yeah yeah, this is that thing, oh, that's that thing. (skip another paragraph). That's not reading. Why bother at that point, just make a "cliff's notes" and give the reader a ten page reader's digest version, and be done with it.

I said my piece. I'm out of this thread.
you are all free to do what you want.

Given that I use a narration app to enjoy novel I can say I don't notice. What I do notice is when things become repetitive.

Ela has a cute profile pic. She has a nice hat, a cool dress and hold a bowl of fruit. It might be a basket of candy. But either way it is cute. Everyone on the school bus says her white hair is cute as well. Because her hat is white and her hair is white. That is also cute. Cute cute cute cute cute.

(Overdoing it a bit)

--------------------------------------
I like big beautiful sentences, in the same manner with which other people want a bigger slice of that blue ribbon cheesecake at the county fair. They say there's no such thing as too rich or too thin, so why can't cheesecake and sentences both share in that bounty. I want a lengthier paragraph as well. I've seen paragraphs as big as a whole paperback page, and it never made me so much as flinch. Why stop there. My buddy in high school read James A. Michener's "Space", all twelve hundred plus pages of it. There was absolutely no way he was going to get away with that, not on my watch, so I was next. A lineman on the football team who got all A's was in Literature class with us, and he was the third one to tackle Space. We called each other Clagget and Pope (protagonists in said novel), and giggled at the astronauts taking turns riding the cute Asian news reporter who was getting "exclusives" for putting her career into the stratosphere. I felt betrayed when the movie "Beetlejuice" ripped the name of the movie off of that book. Betelgeuse was a constellation the astronauts had to learn to recognize for navigation and one of them made up funny pronunciations as a mnemonic gimmick and "beetle-juice" was one. I learned all about how orbiting works and many other things as well. The book was a typical Michener extravaganza, a sort of Crichton "Airframe" author-research buff. Yes. A big book, no, a huge one. With gigantic paragraphs, and a real commanding usage of metaphor and simile to inform the reader *exactly* what he meant to convey.

The hell's even the point of I just read the topic sentence and *maybe* the conclusion sentence. So I can (appear to) read faster? So I can (again, appear to) read more books? Who am I then fooling, other than myself. To me, "reading" is reading every word, every sentence, every paragraph, and indeed the entire book. We have the word "skimming", to describe something other than reading. I don't then find it elitist in the slightest to say that I'm a reader, and the other person is a skimmer.

I've never owned a thesaurus nor consulted one. Writing then, is my time where I get to show off my vocabulary and my broad general knowledge that I largely garnered from reading (not merely skimming) so many books that I gobbled up as voraciously as an alcoholic drinks. Writing seems to be the best outlet for all this.

TL;DR --- so if a web-novel reader ever comes over for a snack, I should be sure to cut the cheesecake into a zillion tiny minuscule slices of cheesecake. Because... efficiency in eating isn’t purely for efficiency’s sake, but a respect for your own teeth. Also, I'll be sure to not be surprised if they take one small bite of the cheese part, and another tiny chunk of the crust and quit. I'll say nothing when they quickly proceed to eat (skim?) the entire thing themselves in this fashion. They can then tell everyone how they ate the whole cheesecake themselves, and in such a small space of time. I'll be scratching my head when they leave and most of the cheesecake is still there, a bite off every pointed piece, a bite out of (mostly) every crust.

If this seems to be a silly metaphor, I suppose it is. But that's what not reading the book is, to me. It makes as much sense. I don't get the point of the exercise. Mind you, we've already:

1) shortened the chapter length to "around 2k words is about best".
2) when 50 page chapters were a regular feature of paperbacks for decades.
3) one, sometimes two sentence paragraphs, because reasons.
4) now, we need to make those sentences short. Direct, clear, its all synonyms for short and sweet.

I ask you. What's next on the chopping block.