- <% result.name %>
Discover more random writing ideas
- Words
- Plot ideas
- Nouns
- Questions
- Sentences
- Book titles
- Writing prompts
- Themes
- Adjectives
- Story titles
- Phrases
- Character personalities
- Paragraphs
- Verbs
Why do we use paragraphs?
A paragraph is a self-contained unit of a discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. A paragraph consists of one or more sentences. Though not required by the syntax of any language, paragraphs are usually an expected part of formal writing, used to organize longer prose.
The purpose of a paragraph is to express a speaker or writer's controlling idea and to support it with specifics. Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion.
The introduction (first sentence) sets the stage for what follows and states the main point. The body (sentences 2-4) develops that point with supporting details and explanation. The conclusion (last sentence) reaffirms the main point or sums up what has been said.
A history of paragraphs in language
The creation of paragraphs, which are an essential component of text and communication, can be found in ancient times. Writing in classical times typically consisted of periods or paragraphs that separated the text into smaller sections. The writer was able to concentrate on one idea at a time because this particular layout had the ability to interrupt the flow of thought. This use of paragraphs first appears in the writings of Greek historians like Herodotus in the middle of the fifth century BC. In his histories, Herodotus divided events into paragraphs to make them easier to remember and connect. His classmate, the historian Thucydides (5th century BC), used paragraphs to organize his work similarly to Hermanotus. The paragraph's history can be followed from Greco-Roman culture in Europe to the Middle East and Western civilization. There is evidence that the Psalms were divided into paragraphs in the Hebrew Bible. Puncutation was also used by Arabic poets to separate stanzas in their works. The Qur'an, which may have been the first writing to use paragraphs in medieval times, is one example from the Arab world. Paragraphs first appear in written English in the Western world, particularly in manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries. Indentations and even tiny drawings were used by writers at the time to divide their works into sections. By the time of the Renaissance, more writers were using paragraphs in their writing, and the style of indentation became more consistent. The epistolary tradition, which focused on communicative pieces divided into shorter, alternating paragraphs, emerged during the 16th century. The first "modern" paragraph appeared in the middle of the 17th century. William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe both made use of the paragraph structure we know today. The text was divided into sections by this straightforward arrangement, making communication simpler and more efficient. William Mitchell, a contemporary of Shakespeare, published a collection of works on the structure and layout of the modern paragraph, perfecting its usage and style. Certain components of the paragraph have been added or removed over time. For instance, some texts now rely on embedded links and images that may have previously been deemed unnecessary. Nevertheless, the paragraph's foundation remains the same: a section of text that is separated from another by punctuation or format, allowing the author to concentrate on one idea at a time without being interrupted.
5 questions to help you come up with paragraphs
- What are the main topics I want to discuss in my paragraph?
- What examples and evidence can I include to support my points?
- What tone and style should I use for my paragraph?
- What specific words, phrases or images should I use?
- Where does the paragraph fit into the broader context of the writing?
Can I use the random paragraphs that this tool creates?
Yes you can. The Story Shack claims no copyright on any of these names, but it is of course possible that some of the values this name generator provides are already owned by anyone else, so please make sure to always do your due diligence.
How many ideas can I generate with this Random Paragraph Generator?
The Random Paragraph Generator can generate thousands of ideas for your project, so feel free to keep clicking and at the end use the handy copy feature to export your paragraphs to a text editor of your choice. Enjoy!
What are good paragraphs?
There's thousands of random paragraphs in this generator. Here are some samples to start:
Idea #1 | It may have been the devil himself who prompted the kids in my schoolyard back in 1947 to chant “Patsy Foley’s roly-poly from eating too much ravioli.” | © Donal Mahoney |
Idea #2 | Time was not coming through for Steven. | © Dave Novak |
Idea #3 | There’s a frail woman with frizzy hair sitting in front of me at the coffee shop who I want to punch in the face. She hasn’t wronged me in anyway — she is merely sipping her coffee, inconspicuously nibbling on a blueberry muffin with bony, liver-spotted fingers — but I want to crack her nose with my fist. I know it’s terrible |
Idea #4 | the thought alone would make anyone find me offensive and cruel, but I would never do it. It’s just a thought. We all have them, right? | © Jonathan Dittman |
Idea #5 | She woke up in her bed like every morning to the stone wall room: a light-bulb hanging in the middle of the room, a mirror framed with cobwebs, and dirty plates left to be collected by the people dressed in fine robes that never said a word. The girl started her day as she always did by trying to pull open the hatch that kept the window concealed. When her arms got tired she dragged a small stool under the light-bulb and started to read her book. It was a simple story and the only one she had ever known, but one line near the beginning always fascinated her. The people went about their day under the sun. | © Andy Cashmore |
Idea #6 | My captor from time to time reaches down and strokes my forehead, my cheek, with what seems to be a loving touch, filled with compassion, as though he cares |
Idea #7 | he all too quickly withdraws that same hand and calls an assistant over to tend to a perfunctory duty: my bathing, my feeding, my excrement needs. I suppose he’s above performing such tasks himself. After all, it is he who holds me captive |
Idea #8 | he is the one who orders others to minister to my needs. They obey his commands to the letter. | © Robert Paul Blumenstein |
Idea #9 | This story first appeared in The Bookends Review on December 16, 2016. | © Amy Vatner |
Idea #10 | There are twelve rifles. Eleven contain a live round. A blank cartridge is in one. You have no way of knowing which resides in the weapon you are given. | © Joe Kilgore |
Idea #11 | I awoke, sat up and realized that the circular platform I was on was floating high above mountains and under a high cloud. I had no idea how I got there and I don’t know how it just hovered there like that. Two others were there already, Utina and Paul. They immediately wanted to know my story, especially what I’d been dreaming. I told them that I had been in my jail cell, alone, sleeping and my dreams were the nightmares I always had, of combat. My outpost had been overrun by Afghan rebels after more than twelve hours of constant fighting, lots of it hand to hand, bodies everywhere. I was lightly wounded, I thought. My nightmares got so bad that I later tried killing people on the streets of San Diego. SWAT unit stopped me with a tranquilizer dart. I was jailed and went to sleep on the cell bunk. “It’s never ending combat once I fall asleep,” I explained to them. | © Edward G. Gauthier |
Idea #12 | I woke today knowing I would lose my job. | © Danielle N. Gales |
Idea #13 | The shop was not much bigger than a cupboard. As a solution to this problem, the place had been filled with sturdy wooden shelves, leaving a little room for a counter and a workbench. People definitely didn’t come here for luxury, but The Fixer had never been about that anyway. Affordable repairs, that’s what it was for. Housewives from all over the neighborhood brought their broken vacuum cleaners, blenders, lamps and other household trinkets here. They didn’t care that the place was a dust pile, as long as they could exchange a couple of their green bills for their once again functioning devices. | © Martin Hooijmans |