In textbook like text, it's OK for my taste, but I prefer indented. NB: I do have a lot of books, mostly textbook like, that don't indent. Otherwise, you only see where the paragraph ENDS when its last line doesn't reach the right margin – but often it does reach, making the end of the paragraph ambiguous. I find it helps reading tremendously as it shows where the paragraph BEGINS. It's up to you.ġ) You should indent the first line of the paragraph. The answer? I think you can either indent it or you don't. Some keyboarders use a double carriage return to create this break, whereas typists using word processing applications may use increased leading to create a more pleasing space between paragraphs.

This creates what is sometimes known as 'block paragraphs'. Another technique is to insert vertical space between paragraphs. Lines can be outdented to signify the start of new paragraphs. Miles Tinker, in his book Legibility of Print, concluded that indenting the first line of paragraphs increases readability by 7%, on the average. An em space is the most commonly used paragraph indent. For example, The Elements of Typographic Style states that 'at least one en ' should be used to indent paragraphs after the first, noting that that is the 'practical minimum'. Keyboarders normally indent paragraphs three to five word spaces-based on what they were taught in school-while professionally printed material such as books and magazines generally use smaller indents. For example, Robert Bringhurst states that we should 'Set opening paragraphs flush left.' Bringhurst explains as follows. Professionally printed material typically does not indent the first paragraph, but indents those that follow.

How to do first line indent in word