It is my understanding that a paragraph is usually longer than one sentence, but that most of those sentence are elaborations of a single topic sentence. So when forming the outline for a composition, or even when coming up with ideas, is it necessary to determine what shall be in every paragraph in order to ensure a smooth flow, or only to determine what each paragraph will be about? Can someone plan a long composition by first only making an outline that signifies what each paragraph will be about, not specifying any of the details in that paragraph? I'm not talking about fiction here, but essays and things like that.
I think the reason paragraphs are ordered in a certain way, is because some styles of writing are easier to digest. Sentences are the same way. You put the most complicated thing at the end of a list so people have more time to remember it. That's for the reader at the end who is going to consume your work. Good style makes it easy. And outline is for you, so if you don't have to show it to anyone, whatever makes it easier for you to write a good essay is the way to go. Different people organize their outlines all kinds of different ways.
I wouldn't even go so far as to decide what each paragraph is about, much less what's inside each paragraph. My outline would show topics, and each topic might get one or many paragraphs. So, for example, let's imagine that I'm outlining an essay about dryfarming. It might look like: What is it? How is it valuable? -- Water conservation -- Quality A summary of techniques and rules. Detail of techniques and rules. --Early planting. --Deep planting. --Weed control. --Dust mulch and associated controversy. --Watering ---- Watering systems ---- Watering at planting time ---- Watering or non-watering during growing season. ---- Fertigating Any of the above might get one or several paragraphs--or, in theory, two topics might share a paragraph, though that's less likely. I wouldn't even begin to try to plan a "smooth flow" at the outline level, and I would never plan the interior of a paragraph. I'd just write it and achieve that smooth flow by editing. And it's quite likely that the final product would deviate from the outline.
