Create a document with two one-line paragraphs.
In Word, put the cursor at the start of the first paragraph. Press SHIFT+DOWN. This selects the first paragraph. Apply a paragraph style, Heading 1, say. Paragraph one has the new style, paragraph two does not.
In Writer, do the same thing. The style is applied to both paragraphs!
I use Writer all the time but this funkiness in paragraph selection continues to bug me. You have to select paragraphs excluding the final paragraph mark, which requires more keystrokes than Word's selection behaviour.
Single character can only be part of a single paragraph. So if you select characters that are in different parahraphs and want to set their paragraph styles it should set all of them.
Ive just tried it in Writer and like i said its seems to be the “norm” how other soft does it (i dont have acess to Word to test that).
Character styles are settings for selected group of characters (things ike emphasis, italic, underline). Paragraph styles are set for whole paragraph you are in. You make new paragraph by hitting enter. If you hit enter twice you make two paragraphs. In paragraph style you define how paragraphs should be separated (empty line, first line indent, rule whaever you want). You should never do what can be done using paragraph style by writing them because later when you want to change them you would have to change it everywhere instead just changing style.