Body paragraphs in your essays need a firm hand guiding their internal structure. Consider the role of the topic sentence. Shall it address a point of organization supporting your argument, or shall it address and refute the counterargument? Shall it "flip back" to the previous paragraph content, and then project into the current paragraph so that you remind the reader of what you've just proven before going on to the next point? You need to make conscious decisions about the opening sentences in your body paragraphs; those sentences set the tone and initiate the framework for the paragraph. If the topic sentence merely states a fact, you're in trouble (most likely), since the paragraph is headed by a nonclaim. A descriptive topic sentence tends to forecast a descriptive paragraph.

You may want to consider the placement of the topic sentences. They need not always occupy the first slots in your paragraphs. The second or even the third sentence may fill that important role. In some cases a couple of sentences can work together to present the information that introduces the details to come. And like some theses, the topic of a paragraph can be implied by the details within the paragraph. Remember that implication is risky.

How will you deal with the details? If you list them, the reader may not know how they fit or why they prove your analysis is correct or your argument is valid. On the other hand, a list can be quite handy as a means to introduce a number of items that you will then explain in some detail. Provide the critical connections that tell WHY the evidence supports your argument. Don't give the reader too much leeway.

Choose details carefully to support your proposition; you are trying to convince your readers to believe you, or in an argument, to change their minds or to at least seriously consider your position. Remember that you must make the critical connections between the detailed evidence and the thesis; your reasoning must be logical.

And consider the order in which you present your details. You can present them chronologically according to when they happened. Or, you can present them psychologically; do you want to present the most important details first or last for shock or emphasis? Do you want to introduce new or startling evidence to shake the reader and perhaps cause reconsideration of an issue? And consciously choose to present your evidence rhetorically, in an order of descending or ascending importance for the most persuasive effect on your reader.