What struck me most is the tendency to write both inner thoughts and dramatic events as single line paragraphs.
When I started posting my first story on the boards a few years ago, one of the comments was that the paragraphs were too long and that the big blocks of words (i.e. paragraphs) were hard to read on a computer screen. The commenter suggested that I try to make my paragraphs short; not more than a couple of sentences, if possible. As I tend to write long stories, this would make them unbearably longer. Since this wasn't the way I was taught to write, and it didn't bother me, I largely ignored this advice. I do try to break up some of my exceedingly long paragraphs, though, from this advice. I, also, have used this technique on occasion for emphasis (usually dramatic). It's possible that other people saw or received this note, and have written their stories accordingly.
It is a style of writing that I've seen (or recognized) commercially by only one prolific Regency Romance writer (whose name escapes me at the moment). I do know that I stopped reading her stories because the short choppy sentences were exceedingly annoying. Also, her stories were VERY formulaic, her characters cardboard cut-outs, and her plots unrealistic and boring. Luckily, we don't have those problems here.
Thanks for popping in and saying 'hi'.
