Writing unity refers to how well sentences and paragraphs stay focused on the topic sentences and thesis statement. From the reader's point of view, writing unity means that there are no irrelevant (off the point) details and that the tone of the writing remains consistent.

All good writing is structured. The structure changes according to the domain of the writing, but when an author consistently follows a plan, the reader can clearly follow what the author intends to share or to prove. Avoid including details that take the reader away from this plan and lead to confusion.

To know how to improve writing unity, is is helpful to examine examples of poor writing unity.

Paragraph without Unity Writing Model

It has been said that history repeats itself. Who first said this quote is not important. Although circumstances may change, and they frequently do, and the cast of characters will differ, human response to crisis situations remains consistent over time. The lessons gained from past events should affect present decisions. People rarely change their behaviors based upon past experience. Sometimes they do, but not often do they change their actions. Indeed, it sometimes seems as if people are willing to challenge the influence of the past when they repeat mistakes or misjudgments. Why people would want to challenge the influence of the past remains unknown.

Now, study the same paragraph content written with good writing unity.

Paragraph with Unity Writing Model

It has been said that history repeats itself. Although circumstances may change, and the cast of characters will differ, human response to crisis situations remains consistent over time. The lessons gained from past events should affect present decisions, but people rarely change their behaviors based upon past experience. Indeed, it sometimes seems as if people are willing to challenge the influence of the past when they repeat mistakes or misjudgments.

So what makes the second paragraph so much better than the first? What lessons can be derived to improve writing unity?

1. Eliminate irrelevant details.

2. Make use of effective writing transition words ("Although," "but," "Indeed" in the paragraph above.

3. Follow a predictable paragraph structure: topic sentence-major details-minor details.

Mark Pennington is an educational author, presenter, reading specialist, and middle school teacher. Mark is committed to differentiated instruction for the diverse needs of today's remedial reading students. Visit Mark's website at http://www.penningtonpublishing.com to check out his free writing unity teacher resources and books: Teaching Reading Strategies, Teaching Essay Strategies, Teaching Grammar and Mechanics, and Teaching Spelling and Vocabulary.