Organize your thoughts in patterns

Does the second topic sentence naturally follow the first one? Do not address a new idea that does not fit when you start a new paragraph. If your outline has been carefully written to support your thesis statement, this should not happen. Another thing you can do to connect the paragraphs is to use transitional words. Some possibilities: “In addition,” “Besides,” “This leads us to another reason that . . . .” Do not overload your essay with too many points. Usually, three strong points are enough. If you go beyond that, make certain you are keeping your reader with you. Having another person read what you have written and responding to this question can be helpful here. Be careful about getting carried away while you are writing and resist the tendency to add new ideas that do not fit and do not contribute to your point.