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In Word, a paragraph is defined as a chunk of text that ends when you press the Enter key. That chunk can be empty, or it can contain a single letter, word, line of text, or sentence or a collection of sentences. As long as you press the Enter key, and generate a paragraph character in Word, the paragraph formatting commands apply.

❯❯ A sentence is a linguistic unit designed to express something. It must have meaning, but also the typical parts of speech: noun, verb, and other junk you forgot about in French class. (That’s because grammar is only a remote concept in English, like the national debt or how paper can possibly defeat rock.)

❯❯ A paragraph is grammatically defined as a writing unit that expresses an idea. It can be composed of a single word or sentence, but often contains multiple sentences.

❯❯ A new paragraph begins a new concept or idea. Even experienced writers find it difficult to determine where a paragraph can be split or when a new paragraph starts. No exact rules exist, though reading over your text can help clue you in to when a new idea begins and a new paragraph is necessary.

❯❯ See Chapter 31 for information on displaying the paragraph, or Enter, key character.

❯❯ The paragraph character, ¶, is officially called the pilcrow. This symbol is normally hidden in Word.

❯❯ To quickly select a paragraph of text in word, click the mouse three times.

❯❯ If you move the mouse into the page’s left margin, the pointer changes to a northeasterly arrow, shown in the margin. Double-click the mouse in this position to select a paragraph of text.

Understanding paragraph formatting

To best format a paragraph of text, you need to understand the terms Word uses to describe a paragraph’s elements. You also need to know what the elements are and how Word lets you adjust them.

In the Big Picture, paragraphs feature alignment. The four values are shown in Figure 2-1: Align Left, Align Right, Center, and Justify. These formats are covered in the later section “Using justification.”

FIGURE 2-1: Paragraph justification or alignment.

Of the four available paragraph alignment formats, you’ll probably use Align Left most often. If you use Justify, review the later section “Hyphenation.” Word’s Hyphenation feature works with justification to make text more readable.

The next formatting item involves spacing. A paragraph features multiple spacing formats, illustrated in Figure 2-2.

FIGURE 2-2: Things to format in and around a paragraph.

The spacing to the right and left of a paragraph is called indentation. It’s measured from the page margin, which is itself measured from the edge of the page. In Figure 2-2, the left indentation and right indentation are exaggerated. Typically, the indentation is zero.

A special indentation can be applied to the first line of each paragraph. This indentation is either the first-line indent or a hanging indent. These formats are covered in the later sections “Setting a first-line indent” and “Creating a hanging indent.”

Above and below the paragraph you find the space-before and space-after areas. These areas provide a buffer between paragraphs, such as between a heading and body text or after a title.

Finally, a paragraph can feature line spacing. This space pads the lines of text in a paragraph. Setting the line spacing is covered in the later section “Adjusting line spacing.”

❯❯ Center alignment works best for single-line titles and chapter breaks.

❯❯ When a paragraph features a first-line indent, the paragraph spacing is usually set to zero.

❯❯ When a paragraph features no first-line indent, paragraph spacing after is set to equal approximately one blank line in size.

❯❯ Whether you use a first-line indent or a space after the paragraph, the end result is the same: to make the text readable.

❯❯ See Chapter 6 for information on setting page margins.

Finding paragraph control in Word

Rather than let you retain your sanity, Word offers not two, but three, locations where you can format a paragraph of text. That’s probably because a paragraph plays multiple roles in your text and it depends on how you look at a paragraph when it comes to formatting the thing.

The first location for paragraph control is found on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, shown on the left in Figure 2-3. On the Layout tab, a second Paragraph group is found, located on the right in Figure 2-3.

FIGURE 2-3: The two Paragraph groups on the Ribbon.

Each Paragraph group features different controls, and each set of controls is related to the tab upon which the group squats: The Home tab features more basic paragraph-formatting items, and the Layout tab features items that relate to page formatting.

For both groups, click the Launcher icon to display the Paragraph dialog box, illustrated in Figure 2-4.

FIGURE 2-4: The Paragraph dialog box.

All the basic paragraph-formatting commands and settings are shown in the Paragraph dialog box. Further, the dialog box shows the current paragraph format, such as 8 points of space after the paragraph, as illustrated in Figure 2-4.

❯❯ The Paragraph group on the Layout tab features Indent command buttons similar to the Indent buttons found on the Home tab’s Paragraph group. The difference is that the Home tab’s command set the indent at ½-inch increments only. On the Layout tab, you can set specific indent values.

❯❯ As with the Font dialog box (refer to Chapter 1), the Paragraph dialog box features a Set As Default button. Use the button to recajigger Word’s paragraph format for all new documents. Most people don’t mess with this setting as much as they change the default font.

Working with the Ruler

Gizmos on the Ruler directly manipulate various paragraph formats. Specifically, they control the left and right indentation, first-line indentation, and tabs. The topic of tabs is covered in Chapter 3. Indentation is referenced in Figure 2-1. The Ruler is illustrated in Figure 2-5.

FIGURE 2-5: The Ruler.

The Ruler doesn’t normally appear in the document window. You must specifically summon it. Obey these directions:

1. Click the View tab.

2. In the Show group, place a check mark by the Ruler item.

The Ruler appears.

Settings made on the Ruler affect the current paragraph or any group of selected paragraphs. The gizmos show current settings.

❯❯ The big advantage of the Ruler is that you can use the mouse to manipulate the controls and get instant visual feedback.

❯❯ For more precise adjustment of paragraph indents, use the Paragraph dialog box instead of the Ruler. See the preceding section.

❯❯ Click the gizmo on the left end of the Ruler to cycle through the various tab stops and paragraph indents. Whichever item appears in the gizmo is set when you click on the Ruler. In Figure 2-5, the left tab stop is shown in the gizmo.

❯❯ The Left Indent marker moves both the Hanging Indent and First Line Indent gizmos.

❯❯ The First Line Indent marker affects only the first line of the paragraph.

❯❯ The Hanging Indent marker affects all lines but the first line of the paragraph.

❯❯ The Ruler shows up in Print Layout, Web Layout, and Draft views. You can also configure a Vertical Ruler, as described in Chapter 31. The Vertical Ruler is simply a reference; it’s not used to set any formatting options.