Transitions in Sentences
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Creative writers and journalists sometimes have the problem of smoothly transitioning from one paragraph to the other, especially when they are changing the subject. You can master this with little effort. This article will teach you the tricks.
When we writers hop from one topic to another without a transition sentence, we “jar” our readers. While sentence transitions can be in the last line of a paragraph, it is more common to put it in the first line of the following paragraph. They are like a bridge, connecting unlike things.
Readers form a bond with warted characters, thereby making the character memorable. Warts help the reader remember individual characters.
Huh? Were you wondering what happened to our discussion on transition sentences? Did you wonder about that? Well, that’s how a “jarred reader” feels. Warts don’t relate to transition sentences at all, but we can make them relate by connecting the topics like this: (repeat)
“While sentence transitions can be in the last line of a paragraph, it is more common to put it in the first line of the following paragraph. Think of it as a bridge that connects one thought to another.
[transition sentence]
We could compare sentence transitions to ‘warts’ on characters. In the same way that a “wart” blends readers minds with character’s identifications, transition sentences blend readers minds with a change of topic.”
(Notice that we can use more than one transition sentence to help the reader follow our train of thought.)
Here is another example from a camping article. We’re picking up toward the end of the article. The subject was preparing for a vacation and using a credit card for gasoline purchases. It blends into recapping the vacation and not having any interest to pay. See if you can pick out the transition words.
“And thus you will receive a $10 coupon for every $1,000 you charge on a Flying J credit card (per month), and you can use it to purchase things at Flying J.
If you combine these methods with this system, you are not likely to run out of money or have to use an ATM machine; you won’t owe interest, you’ll never have to make a physical payment, and you will never have a balance.”
What were the transition words? And so, – “By combining… ” and the word “further”. Those three words were the end of the financial aspects and the beginning of an after vacation recap.
Some words make great transitions. Some of them are: besides, further, in addition to, although, for instance, specifically, to sum up, again, beyond, close, accordingly, moreover, as a result, during, consequenly, finally, as a result, to compare, on the contrary, but, meanwhile, nevertheless, if, then, otherwise, therefore, therefore, so, otherwise, formerly.
Now go find something to read and find the transition words in every paragraph. They will always be in the first sentence of the next paragraph. After you have done this a few times, you will understand how to improve your own transitions.
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