Writing Basics: Easy as 1-2-3

Throughout history, many people in different cultures have attributed special, even mystical powers to the number three. Numerologists call it a powerful number. Maybe they are right. Think of all the different places that three pops up: triangles, pyramids, ABC, the trinity, and so on.

In writing, three is an important number. When you write, you need to keep this principle in mind. The basic unit of writing is the paragraph, which has three parts; introduction, body and conclusion. Essays also have the same three parts. Many colleges ask students to write a five-paragraph, three-part essay as part of their application, with an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. So you see, writing is as easy and one, two, three!

Henry David Thoreau, the great American author and naturalist, wrote, "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."