100 ways to improve your writing - Gary Provost 2019
Use transitional phrases
Nine ways to save time and energy
A transition in writing is a word or group of words that moves the reader from one place to another. The “place” might be the location of a scene, a spot in time, or an area of discussion. The transition should be quick, smooth, quiet, reliable, and logical. And it should bring to itself a minimum of attention.
Transitions are important because they represent passage through a “danger zone” where you risk losing your reader. You use a transition to show the reader the connection between what he has just read and what he is about to read by implying the relationship between those two bodies of information. Here are some common transitional phrases:
Transitions of Time |
Transitions of Place |
The following week . . . |
On the other side of the mountain . . . |
In December of that year . . . |
In Black Eagle, Montana . . . |
By the time Renaldo arrived . . . |
Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . |
After the prom . . . |
When we got to Archie’s place . . . |
Twenty years later . . . |
From my house I could tell . . . |
Transitions of Subject
Consequently . . .
In this manner . . .
On the other hand . . .
In contrast to . . .
Despite all this . . .
One other type of common transition occurs without words. It is the use of spaces, such as skipping lines, starting new chapters, etc.