Good writing uses transitional words and phrases to help the reader smoothly work through what you wrote. It’s strange how simple, but powerful, these words can be.
Basically, these words and phrases are used to connect one idea to the next.
Look at the word “consequently,” for example. Consequently means “as a result.” When X happens, as a result, or “consequently,” Y happens.
So, “Demian Farnworth, the most unlucky mime in the world, performed the one routine you should never perform in a prison. Consequently, he was thrown out a window.”
If you take the word “consequently” out of that paragraph, you get, “Demian Farnworth, the most unlucky mime in the world, performed the one routine you should never perform in a prison. He was thrown out a window.”
The transitional word “consequently” makes the relationship between the two sentences unmistakably clear.
And that’s what we are after: unmistakably clear, concise, and compelling copy.
In this 8-minute episode of Rough Draft with Demian Farnworth, you’ll discover:
- The four types of transitions — and when you should use each one
- The one error when it comes to writing clearly even educated people make
- Demian’s embarrassing admission about his struggles with transitions
- The one book that “turned on the light” for him about writing clearly
- A simple list of 226 transitions
Rough Draft on iTunes
This article's comments are closed.