I have pretty much always done this, but I saw it specifically stated in an article I read out in that vast aether known as ‘somewhere.’ I do know that what I read was definitely written by Jerry Pournelle.
When constructing a paragraph, the strongest element, the most forceful sentence, should be the final sentence in the paragraph. All the sentences preceding it build up to the final sentence.
Here is an example of internal monolog using this concept, pulled from my novel in progress, A Darkling Nine. For context, the character just discovered that the passive sensor readings of the spacecraft he was on had not been recording readings for quite a long time.
Aware of the lack of recordings now, Gaylord started datalogging of all the passive sensors. Ambient temperatures, magnetic fields, electric fields, and other data should be ongoing. He had set that up before they left Earth in an algorithm that retained everything for three months, a statistically representative sample for five years, and a statistically representative sub-sample permanently. How long had that been turned off?
Notice that the character Gaylord turns recording (datalogging) on (implying it was off even though we did not read the previous sentence), he mentions what kind of data is missing, states that he personally turned it on before they left Earth, and we end with the bang. HOW LONG HAD IT BEEN TURNED OFF?
That last sentence sets up the next paragraph, where he digs deeper to see how much information he needed to use was gone.
Here is another example from an early chapter of the same novel. this time, we use the concept in dialog.
“You will have the same benefit as me, Gaylord. Medical science advances at an astounding pace.” Kermit bent over and placed his hands on his knees, a position Kermit probably thought cute, but Gaylord found insulting and offensive, like being talked down to. “I often considered expanding Sayman Enterprises into the medical field, and sometimes regret never doing so. I’m certain we would arrive in a time where future medicine could cure whatever ails us.”
In this case, the character Kermit Sayman is trying to convince another character, Gaylord Frost, to participate in a mission. Here, we open the paragraph with a fairly strong argument, then we set up conflict with a demeaning gesture. (We know from earlier prose that Gaylord is in a wheelchair.) Kermit’s gesture places the man’s disability into our minds just before Kermit ends the paragraph with a mention of curing his ails, ails that we just had in the spotlight, so we know what is potentially at stake for Gaylord.
Of course, some paragraphs will end more forcefully than others. Some will be subtle, but it is still good practice to put the point of the paragraph at the end. That helps to pull the reader through the material with fewer questions.
